Arcadia
by cheri1
Summary: Ten/Rose, Eleven/Rose and Jack/Ianto. Sequel to Abduction. The Doctor, Rose, Jack and Ianto are lured to the planet Arcadia in the search for Jackie as Callisto continues to enact his plan to destroy the Doctor. FINISHED.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the sequel to Abduction.

Chapter One

(A week after the events of Abduction…)

Rose let out a gasp as she jolted upright in her bed. She had another dream about her and her mother, on their knees in front of Callisto with chains around their neck while he gloated and pointed at the Doctor's dead body off to his right. Ever since she got back on board the TARDIS, she'd been having these disturbing dreams, usually at least once a night but sometimes two or three times. She was losing a lot of sleep as well as hope that her mother was still alive. She glanced at her alarm clock, noted that it was now just past seven in the morning and decided to stay up. She took a quick shower, cleaned her teeth, got dressed, fixed her hair and put on some light makeup. As she was applying her makeup, she noticed there were bags under her eyes and she looked a bit tired. She sighed, finished with her makeup and went to see what her friends were doing.

She went to find the Doctor first and tried the console room. The Doctor was sitting on his jump seat, reading a magazine with his feet propped up on the console. Rose walked over to him and bent over to read the title of the magazine.

"Fantastical Things Monthly?" Rose said aloud while she read the magazine title.

"Yup," the Doctor said. "It's a bit of light reading. Each month the editors bring you little known facts about the universe. For example…"

He went back a few pages.

"A spim is responsible for making a Plonktek run on Planet Mangaloid. Without it, the machine would fall apart and be useless."

He lowered the magazine and grinned at the blank look on Rose's face.

"Uh-huh," she said. "Well, I'm going to get breakfast now; you keep reading about spims and such."

"Is something wrong, Rose?" the Doctor said, laying the magazine down beside him.

"No, why?"

"You look tired and your eyes are a bit puffy. Is it Jackie?"

Rose sighed and nodded. The Doctor got up and embraced her.

"I'm trying everything I can think of to find her, I swear," he said to her.

"I know," Rose said, hugging him tightly. "I'm just afraid that she's dead or sold into slavery."

"I'm trying, I really am," the Doctor said, rubbing her back.

"I know you are," Rose murmured, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Aaaw, it's a Kodak moment."

"And there's Harkness," the Doctor muttered. "Or as I like to call him, Mood Killer."

"On the contrary, it's always a party when I'm around," Jack said.

Jack noticed the magazine on the jump seat and walked over to it while the Doctor watched him over Rose's shoulder. He picked it up and frowned when he noticed it was written in an alien language.

"You need to fix your ship, it's not translating this," Jack said to him while he turned it around and showed him.

"Probably because the TARDIS is trying to tell you it's my magazine, not yours," the Doctor said while Rose giggled.

Jack stuck his tongue out and threw the magazine down on the seat. He was about to head out of the room when everyone heard a knock on the front door. Jack frowned.

"Did you land somewhere?" he asked.

"No, we're drifting in deep space," the Doctor said, letting go of Rose.

"So, what? An astronaut is coming by to say hello?" Jack said.

"No, it's a message cube, right?" Rose said, her hopes rising as she listened to the insistent knocking.

"Maybe," the Doctor said. "Maybe Callisto finally got bored and decided to resume the game."

"Or maybe he killed Mum and he's gloating about it," Rose said while Jack came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

The Doctor opened the door and the message cube zoomed inside. But instead of going towards him, Rose gasped when the thing made a beeline for her. She and Jack stepped back and Jack put his hand out to block it in case it zoomed directly into her forehead. But the cube stopped and hovered in front of her while the Doctor closed the door.

"Take it in your hands," the Doctor said.

Rose swallowed hard, afraid of what she might hear but she reached out and took the cube in her hands.

"Rose?" she heard Jackie say when the inner cube flickered on.

"Mum," Rose said in a choked voice while Jack rubbed her shoulders and listened with her.

"I'm still alive, Rose," Jackie said. "The man that took us wants you and the Doctor to come to…Arcadia. You'll receive further instructions there. I love you."

"Mum!" Rose cried out when the inner cube's light faded.

The Doctor took the cube from her and took her hand, a sympathetic look on his face when he saw the anguish on hers.

"She's alive," Jack said sympathetically to her.

Rose nodded.

"Arcadia, where Callisto is from?" she said to the Doctor.

"Yes," the Doctor said, putting the cube on the console.

"I thought you said the Time War was sealed in a time lock and you can't get to it," Jack said.

"It is. But that mainly concerned Gallifrey and Skaro. They were put in the time lock to prevent the war from continuing but the planets that were ravaged by both sides are still accessible," the Doctor said.

"So he's luring there because you couldn't save the planet," Jack said.

"Yes, I'm sure he has some disturbing surprises in store but we have to go there and play the game and try to get Jackie back," the Doctor said.

"I'll let Ianto know, he's in the kitchen eating breakfast," Jack said.

He squeezed Rose's shoulders before leaving the room. The Doctor waited until he left before he embraced Rose again and let her briefly weep in his arms.

"She sounded strong, Rose. I don't think he's gonna do anything to her just yet," the Doctor murmured in her ear while he held her close. "She's too valuable to him."

"I just want to see her again," Rose said, sniffing as she looked up at him.

"We will. Just keep your hope alive. In the meantime, I have the tracker safely hidden in your arm and I'll put one in Jack and Ianto. If anything happens to the three of you, I can track you with the TARDIS."

Rose nodded. She finished crying and the Doctor kissed her tear stained cheeks when she stepped back.

"What about you? Will you be alright?" Rose said to him. "You have to go back to Arcadia and face it again."

"I know and I don't fancy doing it but like I said, we have no choice."

The Doctor took her hand and smiled tenderly at her.

"Come on, let's go get Jack and Ianto so I can put tracker chips in their arms and then we'll set a course for Arcadia."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Awww, I'm safely chipped now," Jack said after the Doctor finished putting one in his arm. "I feel so special now."

The Doctor disposed of the syringe while Jack looked at his arm. Ianto had been chipped before him and he stood nearby, watching while Jack rolled his sleeve down.

"So what about you, do you get a nifty chip too?" Jack said to the Doctor.

The Doctor paused while he considered that.

"I mean, what if you get captured," Jack said. "We could come back and ask the TARDIS to find you too, you know," Jack said.

"I suppose I could," the Doctor said, nodding.

He glanced at Jack before taking off his jacket and rolling up his right sleeve. He went and got another syringe and injected himself with a chip. Then as he disposed of it, he had another thought and told everyone to follow him as soon as he adjusted his sleeve and put his jacket back on. He looked around for a moment before asking the TARDIS to make some small rucksacks with some supplies in them. There was a flash and four small black rucksacks appeared on the counter beside him.

"These have basic survival supplies," the Doctor said after peeking inside one and checking. "Arcadia has been decimated now and we might need some of these to get along. Not to mention Callisto probably has a few surprises for us."

He started to pass them out but noticed one rucksack had Rose's name embroidered on it. He handed it to her and checked the others but all the others were without writing. Shrugging, he passed out the others to Jack, Ianto and took one for himself. They put them on their backs and then the Doctor led them back out to the console room.

"No fair, Rose got a personalized one," Jack whined as he and Ianto walked behind her.

"Perhaps, the supplies inside are tailored to her female body," the Doctor said over his shoulder.

"Still want a personalized one," Jack said, pretending to pout while Rose giggled.

They walked into the console room and the Doctor's three companions watched while the Doctor set a course for Arcadia.

"Doctor, will you be okay, going back there?" Rose said to him when he finished his dance around the console.

"I'll be alright, Rose. I can cope with whatever lies there," the Doctor said.

"I'll give him noogies and snugglies if he gets too down," Jack said, coming up behind him.

Rose laughed when the Doctor ducked the moment he tried to embrace him from behind.

"Anyway," the Doctor said, sitting on his jump seat while Jack pretended to pout again and walked back to Ianto. "Everyone should be mindful that there may be hazards out there. The Arcadians fled but there may be other things, not to mention ruins all around us."

"So where do we go then?" Jack said, coming up beside the chair with Ianto. "Callisto didn't say."

"I know. I figure he has a way to track me somehow. But I'm heading to the Military Garrison. That's where I was based when I was there."

"As your ninth self?" Jack said.

"No, eighth self. My eighth body fought the Time War," the Doctor said.

"Really? What did you look like then?" Rose said.

The Doctor asked the TARDIS to show them a hologram of his eighth self. A 3D hologram of the Eighth Doctor appeared in front of them. The three companions came forward and walked around the hologram, examining it.

"Very Jules Verne," Ianto said after walking around the hologram.

"I thought so," the Doctor said.

"You fought a war dressed like Charles Dickens?" Jack said to the Doctor as he pointed to the hologram.

"No, I became a bit rougher towards the end," the Doctor said.

The image changed and now Eight had shorter hair and was wearing a navy peacoat, white shirt, black trousers and had a tan courier bag slung across his body.

"I prefer Charles Dickens," Ianto said.

The hologram disappeared from view.

"Got any naked holograms?" Jack said with a cheeky grin.

A hologram appeared of a hairless cat.

"There, naked hologram," the Doctor said, pointing to it.

"Hardy har har," Jack said while Rose giggled. "So, if there are any survivors, they won't know who you are since you changed since you were there."

"Yeah, but I doubt we'll find many survivors. The majority fled after the planet became overrun with Daleks and became uninhabitable," the Doctor said as the hologram disappeared. "The cities have probably been overrun with wild creatures so look sharp everyone. I'm sure this will not be a pleasant little holiday."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The Doctor opened the door and stepped outside the TARDIS onto the surface of Arcadia. The air smelled a bit like sulphur and the Doctor wrinkled his nose at it before thinking to his android body to turn off his scent processors.

"Is it safe?" Jack said from inside the TARDIS.

"I think so, come out," the Doctor said, looking around.

Everyone came outside and Rose shut the door behind them. They were standing on dirt in front of a decimated town. Most of the houses were piles of concrete rubble but there was one large building that was nearly intact.

"That is the Military Garrison," the Doctor said, pointing to the three story building in the center of the piles of rubble. "Come with me and we'll check it out."

They carefully stepped over the rubble to get to the Military Garrison. On the way, Rose noticed parts of skeletons strewn over the landscape including some skeletal body parts sticking out from the rubble of the houses. She also saw scorch marks on some of the concrete blocks and on the sides of the garrison.

"Dalek lasers," the Doctor said, pointing to one of the scorch marks and confirming Rose's suspicion. "The garrison was the headquarters of the resistance so this town suffered greatly. Once the Daleks took control, they leveled the town. The garrison was spared because the Daleks used it as their headquarters for a time."

The Doctor stopped and pointed to a hill about fifty feet to the left of the town.

"We were forced to retreat there," the Doctor said while everyone watched and listened. "We tried to regroup but the Daleks were too strong. We were forced back and back until we had to abandon it entirely."

Rose put her hand on his shoulder and he gave her a loving look and patted the hand.

"Come on, gang, let's go inside the garrison," he said to them as he turned.

The Doctor led the way to the garrison. The front door was made of glass which was now shattered and laying in bits both inside and outside the door. There was a gold sign that read MILITARY GARRISON that had fallen off the building and was now lying in front of the door. Most of the building's windows were devoid of glass or had shattered glass in them. The Doctor moved the sign away and carefully stepped through the frame of the door. He looked around; making sure the interior was vacant before letting the others inside. Rose came inside while Jack peeked in Ianto's rucksack and found a torch inside it. Rose froze when she saw a Dalek near the door but she relaxed when it didn't move or acknowledge them. The Doctor walked over to it while Ianto and Jack came inside and Jack turned on Ianto's torch.

"Ah, a straggler," Jack said when he saw the Dalek. "They left one behind, did they?"

The Doctor examined it while Rose came up to the front and put her hand on the dome. She made a face when she took her hand away and noticed her handprint in the accumulated dust on top of it.

"I don't see any signs of destruction," the Doctor said as he walked around it. "But it's dead. Maybe someone got lucky. There were weapons designed to shut down the Daleks with a plasma pulse, like shutting down a computer. The outer shell is battle armor after all. Unfortunately, the Daleks designed armor designed to repel it which led to the Time Lords designing better weapons and so on and so on."

"Intergalactic arms race," Ianto said.

"Basically, yes. But there was more to it," the Doctor said as he put his hand on the side of the Dalek. "It was called the Time War because the Time Lords mucked with time, trying to get the upper hand. A battle went wrong and was lost and the Time Lords would go back and fight it all again. Over and over."

"And you had to fight over and over," Rose said, walking to his side.

The Doctor nodded and Rose put her hand on his.

"The lower races like the humans had no idea what was happening most of the time, the ripples the Time War caused went unnoticed but for more advanced races like the Arcadians, the Time War devastated their civilization. That's why I finally had to put an end to it once and for all."

Everyone remained silent while the Doctor gazed at the inactive Dalek.

"In my fourth life, I was sent by the Time Lords to stop the Dalek race before it could get started but I refused to do it because I wouldn't be a party to genocide. Well, I ended up being a party to genocide anyway, it turns out," he murmured. "I helped make this happen when I should have finished them off centuries ago. Who knew that the Time Lords tried to start the Time War in my fourth life and I wouldn't go along with it."

The Doctor's companions shared a look while the Doctor stared at the Dalek, lost in thought. Then he suddenly snapped out of it and remembered where he was.

"Sorry, everyone, shouldn't do that," he said. "We have no time to stroll down memory lane. Follow me then."

He took Rose's hand and Rose gave it a squeeze while he led them through the building to the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

On the way up, Rose couldn't help but imagine the Doctor climbing these same stairs in his eighth life. She imagined him being a weary but determined warrior, doing what he always did when it looked hopeless, carrying on despite the odds. The stairs was littered with debris and the overhead lights weren't functioning so the Doctor borrowed Ianto's torch and Rose took the Doctor's torch out of his rucksack. When they got to the top floor, they had to kick aside more debris and step through another doorframe but they were inside a room with a huge monitor and several consoles. There was a large wooden table with several padded leather seats around it. The Doctor walked over to the monitor while everyone followed him. Rose came up beside him and looked at a large keyboard on the steel console below it. The language on the keyboard was a squiggly script that the TARDIS didn't decipher but the Doctor turned on the monitor and typed quickly. The squiggly language appeared on the monitor as he typed. Whenever he finished his sentence and hit what Rose figured was the enter button, a response came up under his writing and the Doctor read the sentence before typing some more. As they stood there, the lights suddenly came on and Rose and Jack turned off the torches and put them back in the Doctor and Ianto's rucksacks.

"So are you turning on the mains then?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"Yes, partly. Partly I'm getting the computers systems back online so we can use it," the Doctor said, glancing at the monitor as he typed.

"So this was the War Room, I take it?" Jack said, walking around the room.

"Yes, this was the headquarters of the resistance until the Daleks took it over," the Doctor said. "There, the building should be fully functional now," he said as he typed in another string of commands. "Electricity, water and the lavatory should be up and running."

"Great, we can crash here," Jack said.

"Not for long, we need to find Callisto," the Doctor said as he resumed typing.

The writing was suddenly replaced by an old film of someone speaking. The man was dressed in a blue military uniform. His skin was snow white with blue tribal tattoos all over his face. His hair was jet black and was cut into a stiff black Mohawk that rose up from the middle of his head.

"That is an Arcadian, his name was Romulus," the Doctor said to everyone as he pointed to the alien on the monitor.

"So this is what Callisto probably looked like?" Rose said.

"Well, the hairstyle might have been a bit different for him but yes, generally this would have been Callisto in the flesh."

"Military log 13-456," Romulus said as he spoke into the camera. "This is day 76 of the Dalek incursion and we are slowly being surrounded by the enemy. The Doctor has led our troops out to face them but we aren't sure of success. The Time Lord is valiant but even he is tiny compared to the Dalek hordes."

"Do you know what he's talking about?" Rose said.

"I believe so. I led a guerilla squad to try and plant some plasma bombs to disable them but we were overwhelmed when more ships came and we had to retreat. There were other instances where I led a doomed mission but I think he means the one I just disguised."

"Personally, I do not trust the Time Lord," Romulus said. "I believe the man is arrogant and trusting a man to fight this mission when he was the cause of it in the first place, it's disgraceful."

"I see he was a member of your fan club then," Jack said dryly.

"That's news to me. I thought he liked me," the Doctor said, switching the log off. "But then again, I kept losing battles so I'm sure by the end he thought less of me than he did at the beginning. Anyway, let's move ahead and see what the final log is…"

He typed in another set of commands. There was a pause and when another log came up, they were shocked to see a red Dalek in place of Romulus.

"THE DALEKS ARE VICTORIUS," the Dalek yelled at the camera. "WE HAVE DEFEATED THE ARCADIANS, THE PLANET IS OURS!"

"That's a Dalek?" Ianto said.

"Oh yes, that's right, you're not a member of the Dalek Haters Club, are you?" Jack said. "Me and Rose and the Doc had the pleasure of meeting them before. Ugly little buggers, aren't they?"

"WE HAVE EXTERMINATED THE REBELS BUT THE DOCTOR HAS ESCAPED," the Red Dalek said.

"Awwww, too bad, must have sucked to be you that day, huh?" Jack said while Rose giggled.

"THE DOCTOR WILL NOT SUCCEED, WE WILL HUNT HIM DOWN! WE WILL WIN THE TIME WAR. WE WILL BE VICTORIUS!"

"WE LIKE TO YELL BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS A HOLD OF OUR LITTLE DALEK BALLS AND THEY SQUEEZE, SQUEEZE, SQUEEZE ALL THE TIME!" Jack yelled, imitating the Dalek.

Rose laughed when the Doctor bent over the console laughing at that while Jack patted his friend's back.

"You sure do make things interesting when you're around, Jack," the Doctor said when he sobered up.

"That's why you shouldn't have ditched me, Doc," Jack said.

"So, the Dalek had the last log entry just so they could gloat," the Doctor said as he switched it off.

"Apparently so," the Doctor said.

"How did he turn it on with his little plunger arm?" Jack said. "And the little whisk, did he just hit the keys until something happened?"

"They can do more with the plunger than just wave it around, Jack," the Doctor said.

"Like…fix toilets?" Jack said while Rose giggled. "Pardon my sarcasm but whoever created these things didn't think things through. He or she should have given the things arms and hands."

"It was a man that created them and they're dangerous enough with adding on arms and hands," the Doctor said. "But enough of this, we should continue our exploration and see if we can find a clue."

He beckoned to his lover and his friends and they headed out of the War Room.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

While the Doctor and his friends were exploring the Military Compound, Callisto was observing them; hiding behind the hill the Doctor took shelter in so many years ago. With him was Jackie. Jackie was now completely brainwashed and was trained to kill the Doctor, her daughter and Jack and Ianto without mercy. She was crouched beside her master, calmly waiting for orders. At the moment, Callisto had a problem. He wanted his new slave to kill the Doctor but since he was inside the Doctor's body, Jackie would come after him. He needed a way to disable the Doctor's android body and force him to seek shelter back in Rose's mind or someone else before he could use his assassin. He had a plasma grenade, the kind that had been used to short-circuit the Daleks in the Time War. He was hoping he could use it on the Doctor, to disable his body so he would be forced to leave it. The other problem was getting close enough to the Doctor and his friends without him and Jackie getting captured. That was why he was waiting and watching.

"I will destroy you, Doctor, and your dear little friends if it's the last thing I do," he muttered as he watched the compound.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The Doctor shook his head when they finished their exploration of the compound. They hadn't found anything significant and there was no sign of Callisto or Jackie.

"Maybe he's not coming," Ianto said. "Maybe he lured you here but there's something deadly here that he hopes will finish us off."

"I don't know about that," Jack said, shaking his head. "I haven't known the bastard very long but it doesn't seem like his style. If he had an opportunity to kill us, he'd wanna do it in person. I think he's here somewhere, just waiting for us to let our guard down."

"Well, he's probably waiting for us somewhere else," the Doctor said with a sigh. "I'm sure we have to go through a gazillion deadly traps to get to him."

"So you want to move on and find the gazillion deadly traps?" Jack said.

"Might as well, he could trap us easily in here," Ianto said.

"I agree," the Doctor said. "Even though that would be too easy for him. I agree with Jack, I think not only is he here and wants to do us in personally but he's wanting us to follow clues or go through a deadly maze. It's a game, remember? We're not playing the game if we're staying in here. Might as well go out and see if we can find a clue that will lead us to the first task."

"Lovely," Jack said dryly as they headed for the stairs.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Callisto ducked his head down when he saw the Doctor step through the doorframe and come outside. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the plasma grenade. He looked down at the small black ball that would emit a plasma pulse when it went off. It wouldn't kill anyone but it would disable any electrical devices nearby. He slowly raised his head back up. Now all of them were outside and looking around. His eyes narrowed when the Doctor called his name and demanded he show himself. He looked at Rose and chuckled.

"Call your daughter's name, slave," he said to Jackie.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Rose!"

Rose's head jerked around when she heard her mother calling to her.

"Mum, she's over there!" Rose said, pointing to the hill.

"No, wait," the Doctor said, holding up his hand when she started to go towards the hill. "This is too easy and I'm sure he's back there with her, waiting for us to come to the hill."

"Rose, it's me, your mum!"

"Bastard," Jack growled when Jackie called again.

"He left me here and went somewhere else for the moment. I'm all alone but I'm tied up. Come get me!"

"You're right, this isn't right," Rose said, shaking her head.

"We're not fooled, Callisto, show yourself!" the Doctor said.

Callisto stood up and walked to the top of the hill. He stood there without Jackie.

"Jackie as well, let's see if she's really there," the Doctor yelled to him.

Callisto called down to Jackie and a moment later, she appeared on the hill beside him.

"Yeah, she's really tied up alright," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Either that or she's the reincarnation of Houdini."

"Mum, are you alright?" Rose said, stepping up beside the Doctor.

Jackie was dressed in a black form fitting spandex outfit that covered her whole body except for her head and hands and she was wearing black leather books. The Doctor grimaced a bit when he realized he could see every curve and bump of her body, more than he ever wanted to see in his lifetimes. But her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, she looked healthy and she was her normal bodyweight. But the Doctor knew brainwashing left no visible scars and Jackie seemed a bit calm to his liking, especially since she hadn't seen her daughter in a few weeks.

"I'm fine, Rose. He treated me well," Jackie said.

Still no real emotion, at least not enough to convince the Doctor that something hadn't been done to her. Plus, the fact that she was just standing there without trying to go to Rose. It was true that Callisto could have threatened to kill her if she moved towards Rose but still, Jackie would have been a bit more emotional than this. She was talking to her daughter as if they were discussing the weather in London instead of being overjoyed to see her. He decided not to let on that he knew though and get down to business with Callisto.

"So, what happens now?" the Doctor said to Callisto. "I suppose there will be some sort of deal made before we get Jackie back?"

"Get her back? Why would I give her up?" Callisto said with a shrug.

Rose tensed and the Doctor sensed her fear and guessed Rose was thinking Callisto was going to pull out a blaster and kill her mother on the spot.

No, my hearts, he thought to himself. He would lose the advantage he has over us if he kills Jackie. There's more to this than meets the eye.

"So what happens now?" the Doctor repeated. "What do we have to do to get her back? You didn't lure us here just to talk, I'm pretty sure of that."

"I want you," Callisto said, pointing at the Doctor.

"Yes, I get that. If I surrender, Jackie is released. You don't get us both," the Doctor said.

Callisto looked at Jackie and the Doctor noticed Jackie wasn't looking back at him or even acknowledging his existence. He caught Jack's eye and Jack moved up to the Doctor's other side.

"Look at Jackie," the Doctor muttered in his ear. "She look brainwashed to you?"

"Yes," Jack muttered back. "I was going to suggest it but I figured it was obvious. She looks out of it and she's not even crying or overjoyed at seeing Rose."

The Doctor nodded.

"Keep alert," he muttered to Jack.

Jack nodded.

"Very well, I will exchange Jackie for you," Callisto said to the Doctor. "You come forward and Jackie will walk past you and go to Rose and your friends while you come to me."

"Very well," the Doctor said.

He glanced at Jack. Jack nodded and moved closer to Rose when the Doctor walked towards the hill.

"Go to them," Callisto ordered Jackie.

Jackie walked towards the Doctor and Callisto smirked, anticipating the surprise he had in store for the Doctor when Jackie reached him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The Doctor was wary as he walked towards the hill and Jackie walked towards him. This was far too easy. He wondered if Jackie had been wired with explosives that Callisto would detonate if he got close to her or she'd been brainwashed to kill him. Which given their history together would have been remarkably easy to do since there were many times Jackie claimed she was gonna murder him for something he did to put Rose in jeopardy. He had Jack and Ianto guarding Rose and he was confident they could protect her so he was going to take a risk and grab Jackie while she passed by.

Except she didn't pass by. She stopped when she reached him and glared at him. '

"Nice to see you as well, Jackie," the Doctor said to her.

"You bastard, it's your fault this happened," Jackie growled at him, which the Doctor had to admit was the most emotion he'd seen come from her.

"Yeah, yeah, Jackie, just go on, your daughter's waiting," the Doctor said, pointing to Rose.

He was intending to grab her as she walked by but she still didn't move. Instead, her hand went down to her crotch and the Doctor flinched when he realized the spandex hugged her crotch as well. But then he noticed a slight bulge near it and realized there was a pocket there that was designed to blend in with the rest of the outfit. He stepped back and gave Jackie a look of warning.

"I wouldn't if I were you, Jackie," he growled at her.

Jackie shoved her hand into the pocket and lunged at the Doctor. The Doctor grabbed her and tried to pull her back towards Rose while Jackie smacked his face and head with one hand. Ianto ran towards the Doctor so he could help while Jack held Rose back and guarded her. Callisto had a huge smirk on his face while he watched from the hill and the Doctor realized how ugly an expression that was for his face as he glanced at him.

Then there was a bright green light and the Doctor knew what the thing in the pocket had been and he knew what Callisto was doing and he cursed himself for allowing himself to get so close to them. He felt the android body failing and he stumbled away when Jackie let go at him at Callisto's command. He saw Jackie turn and walk back to Callisto without any resistance and he knew Jackie had been turned into his slave. But for the moment, he needed to get the android body away from Callisto before something else happened to it. He knew the pulse disabled everything electronic, including most likely his screwdriver. He also knew he had to get out of the body before it failed completely and trapped him. Callisto ordered Jackie to run to him and he called out to the Doctor, telling him they'd meet again before he and Jackie ran away.

"No! Don't follow him," the Doctor said when Ianto started to give chase.

"Doctor, are you alright?" Rose said, running to him with Jack.

"He used a plasma grenade and the android body is shutting down," the Doctor said as he fell to his knees in front of her. "Rose, I have to use your body again until this is repaired, I'm sorry."

"Do what you have to do," Rose said, falling to her knees beside him.

"I have a feeling this was part of his plan all along," Jack said.

"Yes, I'm sure it is but I have no choice," the Doctor said to him as he pushed Rose's hair away from her temples. "This body is shutting down and if I don't go into Rose, I'll be trapped in it. I'm sorry, Rose."

"It's alright, I don't mind, as long as it's you," Rose said.

The Doctor hurried and pushed his consciousness back into Rose's body while the last of the android's systems went into shutdown mode. He managed to get the entirety of his being inside Rose before the android went dead and shut down. Jack looked at Rose.

"Did he make it?" Jack said.

"Yes, he's here," Rose said, nodding. "He's safe."

Jack and Ianto looked at the android, it was still kneeling but the body was frozen into position with no sign of life.

"So…we carry this thing back inside the TARDIS and get it fixed then?" Ianto said.

"The Doctor said he has a feeling we're gonna be prevented from doing that," Rose said to them. "Otherwise, why would he disable the body?"

"So…now what?" Jack said, looking around.

"Maybe Jackie put some explosives on the android body while they were fighting," Ianto said. "So if we move it…kaboom!"

"I don't know but they can't be far," Jack said, looking at the hill. "We could run them down and get Jackie back."

"The Doctor says that he thinks mum was brainwashed to kill us," Rose said.

"That must have been easy to do since Jackie wanted to kill us half the time whenever we brought Rose back to her," Jack said.

"So, we just stand here?" Ianto said. "Should we make a move towards the TARDIS and see what happens?"

"Just everyone…stand back," Jack said. "I'm gonna try to move this body and if there is a bomb on it and it goes off, I can come back to life, you guys can't."

Ianto touched Rose's arm and they walked back towards the compound while Jack stayed with the android. Jack waited until they were far enough away before taking a deep breath. He leaned down, grabbed under the arms of the android and silently counted to three before jerking the body up as he straightened up. He waited with the others but nothing happened and after a couple of minutes, he shrugged.

"I don't think it's rigged," he said. "All the same, stay away from me while I go towards the TARDIS."

He looked at the TARDIS and started to drag the android body towards it but Rose called out to him and pointed. Jack looked at her. Rose was pointing to the hill and Jack looked over and saw Jackie standing by herself on top of it. Everyone froze and looked at her but no one moved or did anything.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Jack finally said to her.

"Rose, come to me," Jackie said. "I need to speak to you and the Doctor."

Rose, no, the Doctor thought to her. Stay back.

"No, we're not coming towards you," Rose said. "Callisto did something to you, Mum."

"I am here under a temporary truce, I give you my word," Jackie said dispassionately. "My master needs to give you instructions on what to do next."

"Doctor, take me over," Rose said softly.

Are you sure, my hearts, he thought back to her.

"Yeah, use my body."

Relax then.

Rose relaxed her body and cleared her mind and she slowly felt herself being pushed back. Then she became the observer while the Doctor became the dominant one.

"This is the Doctor," he said to Jackie. "I have taken control of Rose's body. How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"You don't but if you want to defeat the master, you'll have to take a chance," Jackie said.

The Doctor glanced at Jack and walked towards him.

"Remember, Rose has been chipped so if something happens and we're snatched…"

"Got it," Jack muttered back.

"I would allow myself to be captured just for that purpose, except I'm afraid what he would do to Rose and I'm sure he wouldn't allow that, no fun if I'm taken too early. Anyway…"

He walked over to Jackie while Jack and Ianto watched. The Doctor climbed the hill but stopped three feet away from Jackie.

"So, what is the message?" he said.

"Do you know where the salt plains are?" Jackie said.

"I do," the Doctor said.

"Go there and you'll receive holographic instructions for the next part of your quest," Jackie said.

The Doctor nodded. He waited for Jackie to say more but she remained silent. He could tell she was trying to fight her conditioning though because she was struggling to say something to him that he was sure wasn't part of Callisto's plan. He could guess what she was trying to say though.

"I will protect Rose with my lives, Jackie," he said to her. "She won't fall into his hands again, I swear it."

He guessed correctly when Jackie relaxed upon hearing that. He then saw her trying to move her hand and he guessed she wanted to touch her cheek. But since it was him, he decided to switch places so he allowed Rose control of her body again.

She wants to touch your cheek, I think, my hearts, he thought to her. But Callisto's conditioning is too strong, she's fighting it but it's not enough. I thought you might like a moment with her though. I don't think she'll hurt you.

Rose noticed the trembling hand after the Doctor said that. She took it and put Jackie's hand against her cheek.

"It's me, Mum, the Doctor switched back with me. I love you and we'll do everything we can to save you, I promise you that."

She thought she saw her mother nod just a little. She leaned over and kissed Jackie's cheek and whispered her love to her. She leaned back up and noticed her mother's eyes were misty and her heart ached, seeing her mother like this.

We better go, Rose, the Doctor thought to her. Callisto might punish her if he twigs that she's trying to break her conditioning.

"I'm gonna let you go, Mum," Rose said to Jackie. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," Jackie managed to get out in a whisper.

Reluctantly, Rose turned away and forced herself to walk away towards Jack and Ianto. She looked over her shoulder and swallowed hard when Jackie turned and walked down the hill away from them.

"I'll save you, Mum, I promise," Rose whispered as she watched her mother go.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Rose managed to make it back into the TARDIS without anything happening but after what happened between her and her mother, she was upset and sobbing and needed to go to her room for a moment to calm down. She left the task of bringing in the android to Jack and Ianto while she tried to get herself back under control.

Rose, listen to me, the Doctor thought to her while she went into her bedroom. Rose, she's alive, do you hear me?

"I hear you, Doctor," Rose said in a weepy voice.

And did you also notice that she was trying to break her conditioning, the Doctor continued as Rose went into the en suite bathroom and turned on the sink. If that's true, there's hope. She can still be saved. And…she started to fight the moment you were near so it's your love for her and her love for you that will help to save her. Just calm down, Rose, please. All is not lost.

Rose splashed some water on her face and reached for a white hand towel hanging on a brass ring on the wall beside the sink.

"We should have grabbed her," Rose said as she wiped her face and stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "She was right there."

And probably had something on her to prevent us taking her, the Doctor thought to her. Callisto wouldn't just let her walk up there alone without taking measures to keep her from falling into our hands. For all we know, she could have been wired with explosives. There are some that are small enough and flat enough to fit under that ugly outfit of hers. We did the right thing.

"I want that bastard dead," Rose said, throwing the towel on the counter. "I want him to die and I want to do it!"

No, you're not killing anyone. I won't have you become a murderer because you're upset and not thinking clearly at the moment. He will be dealt with but you're not ramming your fist through his chest and ripping his heart out to satisfy your thirst for revenge. If you think that way, I'll take over and keep you in the background. Just calm yourself. We need rationality at the moment, not irrational thoughts of vengeance.

Rose nodded but the desire to kill him still burned within her. She looked over when Jack came to the doorframe and knocked on it.

"Hey," he said as Ianto came up behind him. "You okay?"

"Just upset over seeing Mum enslaved but I'll be fine," Rose said.

"We'll get her back, Rose," Jack said.

Rose nodded and Jack took her hand and squeezed it.

"Doctor," Jack said. "We got the android inside and put it in the lab. What do you want to do with it?"

Rose listened for a moment.

"He wants it repaired but it'll take time and it'll take time for the TARDIS to make another one as well and we don't have that sort of time," she said.

"So we're headed to this Salt Plains then?" Ianto said.

Rose didn't answer.

"Is he thinking?" Jack said after thirty seconds of silence.

"Sorry, switched places with Rose again, it's quicker than her dictating what I think to her," the Doctor said with Rose's voice. "Yes, we're headed to the Salt Plains."

"And is that still on Arcadia?" Jack said.

"Yes. It's a large barren desert basically. The ground has a high salt content and nothing can grow there."

"Because of the Daleks?" Ianto said.

"No, it's been that way for millennia, Daleks had nothing to do with it. However, there is a species of lizard that lives far below the salt plain and they need the salt to survive. They live in large burrows but they come to the surface to sun themselves and hunt animals."

"If nothing can live there, what do the animals live on?" Jack asked.

"Each other, they're all carnivores."

"Great, now I see why Callisto wants us to go there," Jack said, rolling his eyes.

"But," the Doctor said, holding up Rose's hands to them. "Here's the thing. The lizards are intelligent and we were able to convince a few to fight with us during the Time War since the Daleks were threatening the entire planet."

"So…you're going to try to get a few to become allies?" Ianto said.

"Unless Callisto's already tried that," the Doctor said.

"Gee, why do I think he has?" Jack said.

"Perhaps not," the Doctor said. "The race is known as Anthrosis and they weren't overly fond of the Arcadians because the Arcadians drove them underground when they first started to colonize the planet."

"So if they hate the Arcadians, how did you get these Anthrosis to fight alongside them?" Jack said.

"I told you, they were being threatened as well. It was self preservation they had in mind when they joined up. They called an uneasy truce with the Arcadians but fights still broke out between the races."

"That you had to put down in addition to fighting the Daleks?" Ianto said.

"Pretty much, yeah," the Doctor said, nodding.

"So…we go find a few of them and try to talk them over to our side?" Jack said.

"Well, first we need to find out what Callisto is planning. He wants us there for a reason and there's more perilous things in the Salt Plains than the Anthrosis. There are huge sand spiders that also live underground and snatch things from the surface. There are sightless moles that live underground as well."

"Gee, sounds pretty crowded," Jack said.

"The Salt Plains are about five hundred miles in every direction, there's room to spread out," the Doctor said. "There are also large flightless birds that roam the plains like camels and eat whatever they can find."

"And none of these things need water?" Jack said.

"They get the water from the things they eat," the Doctor said.

"Great, sounds lovely," Jack said. "So…I suppose the next question is what about you? Where will you stay? Inside Rose?"

"Rose is telling me to stay here because that way I won't be disabled by a plasma grenade again," the Doctor said. "The only problem is we'll have to share this body."

"What are you griping about? I thought you wanted to get inside Rose for years," Jack said.

The Doctor shot him a withering look while Rose laughed inside her mind.

"Anyway, I have to stay in control for the moment since someone here needs to fly the TARDIS," the Doctor said as he turned off the bathroom light and walked out.

"So we can use the TARDIS as well," Ianto said.

"Perhaps but I'm sure Callisto will have a way to lure us away from it so we can't escape so easily," the Doctor said as he and Jack followed the Doctor back to the console room. "Callisto has probably spent a great deal of time planning this all out, that's why it took so long for him to contact us. For all we know, he managed to make an alliance with the Anthrosis already and they're laying in wait for us."

"Like I said, this will be a laugh riot," Jack said.

"Yup, we're having all the fun of the fair, aren't we?" the Doctor said, looking back at them. "See, you could have been blowing up junked Chula warships and getting paid instead of following me into the belly of the beast, risking life and limb and fighting evil everywhere!"

"Don't remind me," Jack said as they walked into the console room.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Jack had to admit it was odd seeing Rose doing the Doctor's manic dance around the console, operating the TARDIS while he flew them to the Salt Plains.

"Are you sure you'll be able to function while you're inside her?" Jack said when the Doctor finished and rested against the console.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Doctor said, looking at him.

"Well, you're inside the woman you love and you can control her. Not going to engage in a little touchy feely with Rose's body, are we?" Jack said.

"No because if Jackie dies while I'm engaging in touchy feely, Rose will reassert herself and engage in slappy slappy of our face," the Doctor said, pointing to Rose's face.

"What about me?" Jack said.

"What about you?" the Doctor said.

"Well, you and Blondie combined, it is a bit tempting. Two for the price of one, you know," Jack purred.

The Doctor went still for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Rose just told me that not only will she engage in slappy slappy if you try it but you'll also get footy footy up your bum and I agree with that," he said.

"Just asking," Jack said, sitting down beside Ianto on the jump seat.

"You're not angry about that?" the Doctor said to Ianto. "What he said just now?"

"I'm used to it, trust me," Ianto said while Jack pinched his lover's cheek.

The TARDIS stopped and powered down.

"Well, here we go, be ready for anything," he said to them.

Jack and Ianto stood up and followed the Doctor to the door. The Doctor opened it, peeked out and then nodded at his friends before stepping outside. Jack stepped outside and blanched. The weather had changed from being cool and cloudy to being hot and arid. The ground around them was a light tan instead of dark brown. Jack guessed it was from the amount of salt in the ground mixed with the dirt. There was nothing around them for miles except for the occasional hill and several big rocks.

"Charming," Jack said while the Doctor closed the TARDIS door. "But I suppose there's no chance of anything sneaking up on us now."

"On the contrary, I told you there were underground dwellers that come up to snatch at their prey."

"So look down then," Ianto said.

"Well, you're forgetting the big birds that will run up and kill you too," Jack said to Ianto. "Fun for all!"

The Doctor looked around and sighed.

"Okay, where is the blasted holographic message?" he said.

"Maybe if you flash your titties, Callisto will come running," Jack said. "Just a joke," he said when the Doctor glowered at him.

The Doctor's head jerked to the right when he saw something flash on a nearby hill and he saw a holographic image of Jackie. He sensed Rose's renewed anguish and he silently calmed her while he, Jack and Ianto walked towards the hill.

Jack looked all around them, figuring something would pop up and devour them in a heartbeat if they weren't careful. He wasn't entirely sure the hill was safe either. He could imagine them stepping onto it and falling through like quicksand into one of the spider's lairs. But he followed his friend up the hill and to his relief, nothing happened.

"Alright, what do we have to do?" the Doctor said when he reached the hologram.

"Go that way," Holo Jackie said, pointing behind her. "I am currently a prisoner of the Anthrosis. You will find the entrance behind a huge boulder. Try to rescue me, if you can, Doctor."

The hologram shut off.

"So he has made an alliance with the Anthrosis," Ianto said.

"Perhaps but they still aren't overly fond of the Arcadians," the Doctor said, looking back at them. "Or it could be a lie to get us to walk willingly into their midst and become dinner. But…"

"The game must be played out," Jack said.

The Doctor nodded and the three of them walked down the other side of the hill. The sun beat down on them and Jack blew a raspberry.

"This sucks," he said. "Too hot and dusty, no wonder the Anthrosis are pissed off that they were forced to live in all this. I would be too."

The Doctor held up a hand and forced them to stop. He pointed off to the left and Jack and Ianto saw a bird like creature in the distance. Its body was like an ostrich but it was more reptilian than bird. It had a tan coloring that matched the sand with a few darker brown feathers on top of its bald head like a feathery plume. It was currently searching the sand for prey and looking down so it hadn't spotted them yet. It was also about a mile and a half away from their position.

"Can they run really fast?" Jack said softly to the Doctor.

"As fast as an ostrich so yes," the Doctor said, nodding.

"Great. Well, I have my webley in my holster so if it comes close, it will be Christmas dinner."

"Just keep quiet and try not to attract attention," the Doctor said softly.

They walked at a normal pace but kept their eyes on the bird. Currently it had its back to them and was still foraging in the dust for prey. Then the Doctor stopped them again and pointed. On a large hill up ahead, two reptilian beings came to the top of it and crouched down. Both of them were pale green and scaly and resembled humanoid snakes. They had dark green hair that was shaved into a stiff Mohawk. One was an adult and the other a child. Both of them were focused on the bird so they didn't see the Doctor and his companions at first. Then the child caught sight of them and tugged on the adult's arm. The adult turned his head and Jack coughed nervously when both beings stared at them intently.

"Anthrosis?" Jack said to the Doctor.

"Yup," the Doctor said.

"Adult and child?" Ianto said.

"Yup," the Doctor said.

"Planning to kill us?" Jack said.

"Dunno," the Doctor said.

"If they don't, that will," Ianto said, pointing off to the left.

They looked over and noticed that the bird was now running towards them.

"I see it finally noticed us," Jack said. "Shit!" he said, reaching into his holster.

"Wait," the Doctor said, stopping him.

They watched while the adult Anthrosis stood up and hissed loudly before he ran towards the bird. Jack was floored. The man was running faster than any human could and he quickly overtook the bird and leapt on its back, opening his mouth and sinking large cobra fangs into the side of the bird's neck. The bird squawked in pain and ran around in a large circle while the Anthrosis wrapped his arms around its neck and hung on for dear life. After five minutes of running, the bird began to slow and wobble as the venom finally affected its nervous system. The bird squawked in distress and the adult Anthrosis slid off and stood there, watching while the bird wobbled, tried to take a few steps and then fell over. Both he and the child hissed in triumph as the bird expired and fell still. Then he turned his attention to the Doctor, Jack and Ianto and walked towards them while the child did the same.

"Here goes nothing," Jack said, keeping his hand near his holster while the adult hissed threateningly at them.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"We come in peace," the Doctor said, holding up a hand. "We just want to talk so please hear us out."

Jack stepped up beside the Doctor and Ianto followed his lead, coming up on the other side, protecting both the Doctor and Rose. Both adult and child stopped a few feet shy of them and the child looked at the adult for a sign about what to do next. The adult held out his hand as a signal for the child not to attack and the child nodded and watched them intently. When the adult came closer, Jack noticed faint blue markings all over his face and snout, intricate swirls that looked like tribal tattoos. The man and child were naked but Jack couldn't see any genitalia but the man had a very muscular, broad build that was unmistakably male.

"Who are you? You are not Arcadian," the man said in a deep voice. "And why does a female address me. Do these males have no voice of their own?" he said, gesturing to Jack and Ianto.

"I am a male spirit residing inside this female body," the Doctor said. "I am using her body and her voice because at the moment I have none."

The adult stepped back a few paces.

"You are possessed?" he said, narrowing his eyes. "Are you a demon inside this woman?"

"No, I was a man but someone stole my body and I have the ability to transfer my consciousness into another living being so I did it until my body can be returned to me."

"Then why did you choose a woman? Why not either of these men?" the adult said.

"Hey, Rose is worth twenty men," Jack said to him.

The adult snorted.

"In our world, females bear our young and run the household; they are neither warriors nor anyone of importance."

"Ah, but what about Tiana?" the Doctor said.

Jack frowned when the adult hissed at that and he and Ianto shared a look.

"That name is not spoken of among our people, how do you know it?" he snarled at the Doctor.

"Because I am Kel'shak."

"Don't you hate when you don't know what the hell is going on?" Jack muttered to Ianto when the adult reacted to that with alarm.

"You are not him, he is dead. His whole race is dead," the adult said.

"I survived. I am the only survivor," the Doctor said. "Tiana fought by my side during the Time War and did a very capable job. So apparently there are female warriors among you."

"She was an abomination and now she is an outcast."

"She's alive? Show me where she is then," the Doctor said eagerly.

The adult Anthrosis narrowed his eyes.

"You claim to be Kel'shak but how do I know for sure?" the adult said. "You could be a demon pretending to be him."

"I give you my word that I am him. If you want me to give you further proof, I can tell you about the Battle of Antioch where I and Tiana fought with others against the Daleks near Shadow Mountain in the east."

The adult studied him. He looked at Jack and Jack waved amicably. He looked at Ianto and Ianto also waved.

"Why are you here? You came in search of The Outcast?" the adult said to the Doctor.

"No, I didn't know she was alive. We were told that you hold a human woman captive among your people. We would like her returned to us because she is this human woman's mother," he said, pointing to Rose's body with her hand.

"We have no such captive among our people."

"Figures," Jack said with an angry sigh.

"Do you know of any human female that has been here besides this one?" the Doctor said, pointing to Rose's body.

"No, Kel'shak, you are the first humans to step foot here in recent memory," the adult said.

"What is your name then?" the Doctor said.

"I am Pagos, this is my son, Tek. I was taking him hunting and showing him how to do it when we found you here."

"Pagos, we need your help. We need the help of your people. The person who stole my body is Arcadian."

Both Pagos and Tek hissed in anger.

"Kel'shak was braver than a hundred men, he could fight the metal beasts singlehandedly if he chose to and yet, a filthy Arcadian has took his body?"

"I had no choice, this woman is…my mate," he said after a moment's pause. "The woman we seek is her mother, I care for them both."

"You care for Jackie?" Jack said in disbelief.

Jack fought to keep from laughing when the Doctor rolled his eyes at that.

"Let me rephrase that," the Doctor said while Jack covered his mouth his hand and held his laughter in. "My mate loves her mother and since she cares for her mother, her mother is important to me and I want her back unharmed."

"I told you, Kel'shek, we don't have a human female as our captive."

"Then the Arcadian lied and tired to trick us to get us to come here. He wants to kill me and my mate and my friends. I need the help of you and your people, Pagos. I ask it humbly. Please."

Pagos considered that silently for a moment while Tek watched his father.

"Very well, Kel'shek. Because you helped us in the past, I will lead you to the elders and let you plead your case with them. I will also lead you to…The Outcast."

"Thank you," the Doctor said.

"Come, son," Pagos said, turning towards the hill.

"Father, what about the Helick?" Tek said, pointing to the dead bird.

"We will retrieve it later. This is far more important. Come, Kel'shek, I will take you to the elders."

The Doctor nodded and everyone followed Pagos while he led them back towards the hill


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"So…is this wise?" Jack said as he, Ianto and DoctorRose followed Pagos and Tek while they slid through a large hole in the ground.

"No," the Doctor said. "But we have no choice at the moment."

Jack went first after Tek. He sat down on the ground with his legs dangling through the hole and slid. There was a large ramplike structure that was filled with loose sand so Jack slid easily down into the darkness. The ramp went down for about twenty feet before stopping. When Jack stood up and stepped forward, he saw glo-balls affixed to the sides of the dirt tunnel. The balls were numerous enough to provide ample light for everyone. He looked over his shoulder as Ianto slid down and held out his hand, helping him to stand up. Then DoctorRose came down the ramp and stood up. The Doctor dusted Rose's body off while he looked around. Pagos motioned for them to follow him and he led the way down the tunnel that was now gently sloping down, taking them further underground.

So are they going to listen to you since you're now female, Rose thought to the Doctor while he followed Jack and Ianto.

I hope so, the Doctor thought back. Although, I don't recall them being so dismissive of women. It's true there weren't any other women soldiers besides Tiana but no one minded her fighting alongside them or said anything that made me thing her being a soldier was odd. Something must have changed since I was here.

Jack suddenly slowed his pace and waited till the DoctorRose caught up with him before walking again.

"By the way, what does Kel'shak mean?" Jack muttered to him.

"It means Protector of the Weak," the DoctorRose said to him.

"Ah, so they do revere you then," Jack said.

"Yes, except the problem is getting them to understand it's me in here," DoctorRose said, pointing to Rose's body.

The tunnel finally leveled out when they were forty feet below the surface and now they could see other round openings along the way while they walked. Jack looked inside some of them as they walked by. Some had other tunnels but there were a couple of living areas and one had a startled Anthrosis female inside it. She was naked and had a smaller Mohawk than Pagos did. She stepped outside into the tunnel after they passed and stared at them with curiosity. Jack looked back at her, waved and winked.

"Stop it," DoctorRose said, poking him in the back. "We're here to find Jackie and find Tiana, not find a date."

"Can I help it if green is my favorite color?" Jack said innocently.

The tunnel went on for about a half mile before it opened up into a huge room. There were several more holes going off in various directions but Pagos stopped them and told Tek to watch them while he went to get the elders. Tek turned and watched them while Pagos went into a tunnel off to the left.

"So…you're becoming a man now, eh?" Jack said to Tek.

"I hate mammals," Tek growled at them.

"Okay then," Jack said, turning back to the DoctorRose. "Charming. It must have taken a lot of persuasion to get these people to fight alongside you."

"No, just my reputation was enough," DoctorRose said smugly.

Jack frowned when he noticed his friend suddenly had an odd look on his face.

"What's wrong?" he said to DoctorRose.

"Rose is being…silly," the DoctorRose said dryly.

In truth, Rose was fantasizing about having sex with her lover and letting the Doctor see it while laughter echoed insider her mind. The Doctor was glad he didn't have his male parts at the moment since the last thing he wanted was for Jack to see his enormous erection.

Stop it, Rose, the Doctor thought to her.

I'm bored sitting back here and watching, I'm daydreaming, Rose thought back to him. I thought I'd entertain you while we wait for Pagos to come back.

Rose, you deserve a smack bottom for this, the Doctor though.

Rose laughed and showed him an image of him smacking her ass repeatedly while they were both naked. Rose was standing by the console, leaning over with her hands on it while the Doctor stood behind her, smacking her with his hand and saying, "Bad Rose, naughty Rose," while sporting a huge erection.

Jack raised his eyebrow when he saw DoctorRose blush deeply.

"Something else going on inside there?" he said, pointing to DoctorRose's forehead.

"Um, no…just silly nonsense," DoctorRose said, trying to get Rose's body back under control.

Meanwhile, Ianto was standing beside his lover, staring at Tek who was clearly upset about having to guard the mammals while his father went to get the elders. He looked at Ianto's face with disgust.

"Pink skin is gross," he informed Ianto.

Ianto didn't know what to say to that. He didn't want to hurt the delicate truce they had by telling Pagos's son to piss off and shut his mouth so he shrugged and tried to ignore the little brat. Fortunately, Pagos returned with several older Anthrosis who had a bit of grey in their green Mohawks. Even though they were older, they still had fit, muscular bodies and looked like they could more than hold their own. The skin on their faces was slightly wrinkled, giving them a wizened appearance. Pagos walked over to DoctorRose and pointed to her.

"This one says she harbors the spirit of Kel'shak inside her," Pagos said to them.

One of the elders stepped up and examined DoctorRose.

"Is this true?" the elder said in a slightly quavering voice.

"It is. I am Kel'shak," DoctorRose said.

"Prove it," the elder said.

The DoctorRose then described his first meeting with the Anthrosis and what happened during the making of the first alliance. Jack studied the elders and noticed they were impressed by the DoctorRose's story and he figured the Doctor was proving himself sufficiently since the elders were all nodding and murmuring their agreement with DoctorRose's story.

"There was no other mammal here that day, Kel'shak," the lead elder said when he finished. "You have proven yourself. I am Vak. I was a teenager when you came here and I was not permitted to fight alongside you. But I remember that day clearly."

"You were a teenager when the Doctor was here?" Ianto said in shock. "How long has it been since this Time War?"

"Oh, many years, mammal," Vak said while the other elders nodded in agreement. "Pagos wasn't born yet but he grew up hearing the legend of Kel'shek and the Time War. We never forgot."

"Thank you for letting me have the chance to explain," DoctorRose said. "This is an unusual circumstance for me."

"Yes, Pagos told us what you said to him," Vak said. "I'm afraid we have no mammal here as a prisoner or otherwise. This person who stole your body lied to you, I'm afraid."

"Doesn't surprise me," DoctorRose said.

"As for Tiana, Pagos will take you to her but she lives a few miles away, far beyond the main tunnels."

"What happened?" DoctorRose said. "I don't recall anyone having any objections to her fighting alongside me. Why was she exiled?"

"Because she tried to become the leader after you left," Vak said. "She figured since you favored her, that she was somehow better than the rest of us. She caused trouble so we exiled her and made a decree that no other woman would fight like a man ever again."

Oh, but if a man gets a swelled head, that's perfectly fine, Rose thought to the Doctor.

"I would like to see her and speak to her," Doctor Rose said to Vak. "I need her help again."

Vak looked at the other elders and they got into a huddle for a moment before they broke apart and Vak came back to them.

"Very well, we will permit this," he said to them. "Pagos will lead you to her."

"Thank you," DoctorRose said.

"And Kel'shak, if it really is you, thank you for all you have done for us. We are eternally grateful that you chose to protect us from the metal beasts," he said.

DoctorRose bowed deeply.

Pagos waited till the elders left and he motioned for his son and everyone else to follow him before they headed into a tunnel off to the right.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Jackie stood inside a cell and glared at Callisto who was watching her from the other side of the steel bars. They were somewhere on Arcadia, above ground and in some sort of prison. The walls were made of steel without any windows. The only thing the cell was a steel toilet and sink and a ratty old blanket that Callisto had given Jackie for her bed. Callisto had made her wear some leather band strapped around her leg. It had a small, flat black box on the front and the moment he turned it on, she lost her will and became his slave. But now that it was off, she was herself again. Unfortunately, she couldn't find a way to get the stupid outfit off her body to get at the band and take it off.

"You won't defeat him," Jackie said to Callisto. "I've been around the Doctor long enough to know that he's smarter than you are."

"Oh? Then why do I have his body?" Callisto said, pointing to the Doctor's body. "He wasn't smart enough to keep this."

"He'll get it back, him and Rose and Jack and…whoever the other person was," Jackie said.

"I believe the fourth person is called Ianto, I have access to his memories," Callisto said, tapping his forehead.

"And you'll never get Rose back. The Doctor will protect her from you," Jackie said haughtily.

Callisto laughed and Jackie winced, hearing it come from the Doctor's mouth. She and the Doctor had their differences but even he never laughed a derisive laugh like this whenever she was around. Then suddenly he lunged at the bars and Jackie recoiled from the rage on his face.

"The ape child will suffer the same as the Doctor because she is allied with him and so will Jack and Ianto. All of them were be put to death slowly and painfully and you get to watch before you join them in death, Jackie Tyler!" he snarled at her.

"No, the Doctor will defeat you and you'll be the one who's sorry," Jackie snarled back.

Callisto paused and Jackie stepped back from the bars, afraid he was going to do something to her. Then he let out another laugh and Jackie shrank back when he pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Then he lunged in as soon as the door was open and seized Jackie by the wrist.

"Come with me, Jackie, I have an idea on how to make the game interesting," he said before pulling her out of the cell.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Wow, this is quite a big underground city," Jack said as Pagos led them down a tunnel.

They'd been walking for about a half hour and now there were no longer any openings in the tunnel, just the tunnel itself. There were still globalls on the walls but they were few and far between and the tunnel was getting dimmer and dimmer the further out they went.

"If Tiana's been exiled, how come you can still reach her?" Ianto said while they walked.

"We no longer use this section, it's been abandoned for centuries. That is why exiles use it."

"Exiles, plural? There have been others?" DoctorRose said.

"Yes, Kel'shak, criminals are banished unless their crimes are severe. Then they are fed to the sand spiders."

"Yummy," Jack said. "So are there other exiles living out here besides Tiana?"

"Not at the moment, we haven't had to exile anyone for a long time. She is the first in many years," Pagos said, looking back at him. "She is up ahead."

Five minutes later, they saw a single crude opening off to the right. The hole was smaller than the others and everyone had to hunker down when going in and walking down it. The tunnel wasn't very long fortunately, only about fifty feet but Pagos stopped everyone just outside the second opening.

"Tiana," he called out.

There was no sound for a moment and then they heard an elderly woman's voice.

"What is it? Have I been exiled again?" they heard her say.

"I have Kel'shak here, he wishes to see you," Pagos said.

There was another moment of silence from inside the hole and then suddenly, they saw an elderly Anthrosis moving towards them, holding a small globall in her hand. She paused at the entrance to her home and looked everyone over.

"Where? I don't see him," she said to Pagos.

DoctorRose stepped forward. Tiana glanced at him and then snorted angrily and turned her attention back to Pagos.

"I have left the others alone," she said to Pagos. "I am far enough away from the city so why are you lot coming here and tormenting me. There is no Kel'shak."

"I am inside this human," DoctorRose said to her.

Tiana turned her attention back to DoctorRose.

"You are where?"

"My body was stolen, Tiana," DoctorRose said. "I am residing inside this human until I can regain it."

"You lie. Kel'shak isn't inside you," Tiana said with a snort.

Once again, the Doctor had to prove himself and Jack listened while he described a battle they fought together. He could see the surprise on Tiana's face while he spoke. The Doctor finished up by singing a song in the Anthrosis language and apparently that did the trick since Tiana hugged him the moment he finished it.

"Kel'shak, what are you doing here?" Tiana said.

"I need your help, Tiana."

Tiana burst out laughing.

"To fight the Daleks again, my friend? Do you see how old I am now?" Tiana said, gesturing to herself. "I'm in no condition to go running with you."

"But you can assist us," DoctorRose said. "You have knowledge of Arcadia and the underground and you know how to heal people. Besides, you aren't fooling me. You look as healthy as a Garthlok."

Tiana chuckled.

"I am flattered, Kel'shak, but what about these men, they're not helping you?"

"I need more help than that," DoctorRose said. "This human's mother has been abducted by the same person who stole my body. She will need medical attention once we get her back and you can help with that."

Tiana considered that for a moment.

"You really want an old geezer like me to join your party?" she said.

"Oh come now, I know the Anthrosis, they are spry far into their old age and can hold their own against anything," the Doctor said. "You're old, my friend, but you're not ancient."

"Okay, Kel'shak, you talked me into it. I would rather risk death at your side again than sit here and just rot away. Besides, if I die, you won't have to worry about me any longer," she said to Pagos.

Pagos snorted derisively but said nothing. DoctorRose was about to say something else when suddenly the mobile in Rose's pocket rang. He glanced at Jack and Ianto before taking it out of the pocket. His eyes widened when he noticed Jackie was calling and he quickly switched dominance with Rose so she could answer it.

"Mum?" Rose said.

"Rose, is this you or the Doctor?" Jackie said.

"It's me, Mum, where are you? Are you alright?" Rose said.

"He let me go, Rose. I'm back at that building, the one with the hill. He left me there."

I seriously doubt that, the Doctor thought to Rose.

What do we do, Doctor. Do we go find her? Rose thought back.

Yes, have to check and see if it's real, the Doctor thought.

"Okay, Mum, we're coming. Just…stay there, yeah?"

"Alright, Rose, just be careful. I don't know what he has planned but it can't be good."

Rose told her she loved her and ended the call. She looked at Jack and Ianto.

"So she's turned up again, eh?" Jack said.

"Yeah, she's back at that military building. At least that's what she said," Rose said with a shrug. "But we need to check."

"Here we go again, another wild goose chase," Ianto said with a sigh.

Rose told the Anthrosis where they were going to and Tiana told them to wait until she packed a small bag filled with supplies. She put the bag on her back in imitation of the others and their rucksacks and when she was finished, Pagos and Tek led them back towards the Anthrosis city.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

When they reached the main cavern, Pagos surprised everyone by telling Tek to go home and tell his mother that he would be accompanying them.

"If you don't mind, Kel'shek, I have dreamed of fighting alongside you since I was a small boy. Please let me come with you. I can fight and help protect you."

"Kel'shek says yes," Rose said.

Pagos gave her a dubious look and Rose sighed mentally, hating the distrust this Anthrosis had for women. But Pagos said nothing and Rose figured he accepted what she said. The elders came up to them and Vak came forward. Pagos informed them what was going on and Vak nodded when he finished.

"You may go but beware, the surface is inhospitable now," Vak said. "I hope, Kel'shek, that you find this woman you're searching for and she's safe."

"He says he hopes the same and so do I," Rose said.

Pagos hugged his son and told him he would return soon. Tek wished them luck and he stepped back with the elders. They left them behind and Pagos led them up to the surface. Whent they got there, they looked around but the only thing they saw was the dead bird in the distance. They kept their eyes open while they headed towards the TARDIS but nothing happened and the Doctor wondered if this was just another wide goose chase for Rose's mother. He was happy that they had some more allies though. At least Callisto hadn't turned the Anthrosis against him.

Once they were inside the TARDIS, the Doctor became the dominant personality again and DoctorRose piloted the TARDIS back to the military compound. When they stepped outside, they saw Jackie standing by the busted front doors. The DoctorRose looked around but she was by herself.

"He's not here if that's what you're wondering," Jackie said. "He left me here, flew off in his little spaceship."

"No, it can't be that easy," Jack said. "Something's up."

"Just stay back," the DoctorRose said, holding up a hand. "I'll handle this."

He slowly walked towards Jackie, still expecting an ambush of some kind. Jackie was leaning up against the wall, her arms folded while she waited for them to approach.

Should I speak to her or do you want to, he thought to Rose.

I want to, Rose thought.

He switched with her so Rose finished walking the rest of the way towards her mother.

"Mum, it's me, the Doctor let me speak to you," Rose said when she stopped a few feet away from her mother. "Are you okay?"

"At the moment I am," Jackie said.

"Is he torturing you?" Rose asked.

"Not now," Jackie said. "He was controlling me with some device he put on my leg but he turned it off so I'm free of his control for the moment."

She pointed to the slim device underneath the bodysuit.

"Tried getting this thing off to take it off but it's like this thing is welded to my skin," Jackie said, tugging a bit on the bodysuit.

It might be, the Doctor thought to Rose. There is an adhesive that sticks to the skin and it takes a special liquid to take it off again.

Rose told that to Jackie and she shrugged.

"Shortly after you left, he gassed me and when I came to, this thing was on me along with the doodah around my leg," Jackie said. "Whenever he turned it on, I felt powerless and I had to obey him. I wanted to tell you I loved you the last time I saw you but I couldn't because my body resisted when I tried to make it do what I wanted."

"So why is he doing this now?" Rose said.

"Dunno. He never tells me anything unless it's a command. I do know he's not here though. He teleported back up to his spaceship after he told me to stay here."

Unless he came back down again and Jackie doesn't realize that, the Doctor thought to Rose.

"So what happens now?" Ianto said as he stood beside Jack and the others.

"Doctor, what do we do? Do we take her with us?" Rose said.

She paused for a moment and listened. Jackie noticed her daughter's eyes widening.

"What is it?" she said to Rose.

"Mum, he wants to go inside you," Rose said.

"What?" Jackie said. "You mean have his mind in here?"

"It's more than his mind, it's his soul," Rose said. "But he says he might be able to set up mental blocks that would protect your mind from being controlled, even if Callisto turned on that device. He says he's not gonna look at your memories or do weird things. He's doing this to protect you."

"So what does he have to do then?" Jackie said warily.

"I put my fingers on the side of your head and he goes through that into you," Rose said. "It's painless, Mum. You just have this…feeling of something going into your mind but it's not painful in any way and he could communicate with you by telepathy and you could do the same with him."

"And take me over?" Jackie said. "He was possessing you, I saw it."

"Yes but unlike Callisto, he asks first," Rose said. "I had to let him do it when they were talking to the Anthrosis earlier."

"Who?"

Rose pointed back to Pagos and Tiana.

"They're Anthrosis, that's Pagos and that's Tiana. They live underground," Rose said. "The Doctor knew about them and worked with them before so when it came time to talk to them, I let him take over so he could speak to them and I didn't have to translate everything. It was easier for us to do that but he doesn't make me do anything I don't want to do. I'm just an observer really when he does that."

"Sorta like I was when I was being controlled," Jackie said.

Rose nodded. Jackie through it over for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, I'll let him do it since he's willing to block that bastard's mind control. But he better not peek at my memories and thoughts while he's roaming around in there.

Believe me, Jackie, there's nothing in there that I want to see, the Doctor thought.

Rose stifled a laugh at that and asked her mother if she was ready to receive him. Jackie nodded and Rose put her fingertips against her mother's temples. Jackie frowned when she felt the Doctor's consciousness entering her mind. When Rose felt him leave completely, she took her hands away.

"See, he's inside you now," Rose said.

Jackie nodded.

"Yeah, I can sense him, it's odd," Jackie said. "And he could do this with anyone?"

"Probably," Rose said with a shrug. "He's been inside me, the owner of the slave auction and an android and now you."

Jackie was impressed by that. She could sense the Doctor doing something in her mind. She had flashes of memory but she could hear the Doctor explaining to her that he was checking where he could set up mental blocks so she let it slide. She realized she actually felt safer with the Doctor inside her mind as if he had the power to keep her from harm. She hoped that was the case but for the moment she had to trust him. She was thankful that she had her daughter back and she followed her as she walked back to the others and introduced herself to Pagos and Tiana.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

They walked back to the TARDIS, the Doctor leading the way after convincing Jackie he wasn't going to hurt her if he took control. They stopped at the TARDIS and the DoctorJackie looked around, half expecting Callisto to jump out at any moment. He didn't see anything so he put his hand on the door handle and grunted when he felt an electric shock going through Jackie's body. He tried to pull his hand away but it was held fast to the door by an electric force field.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Rose said, coming towards him.

"Don't come close to…"

He tried to tell her not to get too close but Rose came up behind him and grabbed his arms, intending to jerk her mother and him away from the door. Then suddenly there was an enormous flash of light. When the light faded, they and the TARDIS were inside a huge metal jail cell. The DoctorJackie's hand was still held fast to the door handle and the Doctor cursed as he tried to pull it away.

"He put something on the TARDIS to trap my hand," he said to Rose as she came around to his side. "Don't touch it or you'll be trapped as well. I told you to get away from me."

"I'm sorry, I was only trying to help," Rose said.

So now we're all trapped again, Jackie thought to the Doctor. Are you going to do anything right or are you just going to cock it up and kill us all?

"I'm working on it, Jackie," the Doctor growled.

So we'll all land up dead then, Jackie thought to him.

The Doctor sighed angrily, deciding to ignore her. Rose asked the TARDIS to open the door but she didn't respond.

"He may have overridden the controls so she can't do it," the DoctorJackie said to her. "He has my body and some of my memories so he would know how to enter her without triggering the emergency defenses. He probably did it while we were off on our little wild goose chase, that's probably why he did that. Gave him enough time to rig the trap."

And now we die, Jackie thought to him. And my daughter is a prisoner again after you promised…"

"I know what I promised, Jackie," the Doctor snarled.

"Mum, leave him alone, he didn't do this on purpose," Rose said to her mother. "He's trying to fix it."

And while he fixes it, we die, Jackie thought to the Doctor.

"Just ignore her," Rose said when the Doctor let out an angry sigh at that.

"It's a little hard to ignore her when I'm directly inside her mind and she can think to me, Rose," the DoctorJackie said.

"Then come back inside me," Rose said, grabbing his free hand. "You're finished with the blocks, yeah?"

"Yes. So yes, I will take my leave of you, Jackie, and…"

He shut up when a metal door beyond the cell slid open and Callisto came into the room. He turned up the overhead lights until they illuminated the entire cell block. There was nothing across the room that the DoctorJackie could see, only metal floors and ceiling. The metal door slid shut and merged with the wall while Callisto walked towards them.

"In a hurry to leave, Miss Tyler?" Callisto said to DoctorJackie.

The Doctor realized that he didn't know that he was inside Jackie. Especially since Callisto was looking at Rose and chuckling.

"And you, my dear Doctor," he said, addressing Rose. "You've come back to me at last."

Rose glanced at the DoctorJackie for a few seconds.

"Let them go," Rose said, deciding to pretend the Doctor was inside her. "Put me inside an android body and let them go."

"Still the same old song, Time Lord?" Callisto said after letting out a derisive snort. "You're like a broken music stream with your constant repetitions of mercy for your companion and her mother. It's beginning to bore me. So for the millionth time, Time Lord, no. They are mine and so are you."

"Then you'll feel the wrath of the Oncoming Storm," Rose said with as much conviction as she could muster. "You'll learn what happens when you cross me."

Callisto threw back his head and laughed.

"What happens is I get your body and you end up with your hand stuck to the door of your time machine. Bravado and cliché talk will get you nowhere here, especially since I hold the upper hand at the moment."

He reached into the pocket of his trousers and held up a remote control.

That's the thing he used to control me, Jackie thought to the Doctor.

Then we're about to see if my mental blocks work, the Doctor thought back. If they hold, I'm going to pretend you're hypnotized so he'll let his guard down. If he thinks you're under his control, he'll let you go and we can help Rose.

Just don't let her suffer or die, that's all I ask, Jackie thought to him.

Believe me, Jackie, those are my exact intentions, the Doctor thought back.

Callisto activated the slave band and the Doctor paused for a moment. To his relief, the blocks held and he sensed Jackie's mind was still free but he relaxed her body and gave her face a blank look for a moment, hoping this was what it looked like when he first put her under his thrall. Callisto looked convinced and the Doctor was relieved that so far he was pulling off the slave routine. Callisto put the remote back inside his pocket and pulled out another one. He pushed a button on it and the Doctor could pull Jackie's hand away from the door. He stood still with a blank look on his face while Callisto pulled a key out, unlocked the door and slid inside the cell, hurriedly locking the door behind him.

"So, Doctor, what is your next move?" he said to Rose. "More brave speeches about how you'll defeat me?"

The DoctorJackie tensed Jackie's body slightly. Callisto had no idea he was inside Jackie and free of his control. He could wait and pin Callisto up against the TARDIS and put his fingers on the sides of Callisto's head and get back inside his body. But to his dismay, Callisto pulled out another remote control, activated it and a visible force field came down between him and Callisto, Rose and the TARDIS, separating him and preventing him from entering his body.

"So, Doctor, what's your next move?" Callisto repeated when Rose fell silent and tried to think of something to say to him.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Rose said, trying to stall for time.

Callisto gazed at her intently and Rose shifted a bit under his penetrating gaze. Callisto smirked at that and Rose forced herself to stay still when he fingered her hair.

"Tell me, Time Lord, what happened at the Battle of Thane Drover? We were told about that victory many times after the battle. So what happened in it and what was your part in defeating the Daleks?"

The Doctor silently groaned. He know knew that Callisto hadn't been fooled and he knew full well that he was no longer inside Rose. He still kept still, hoping that he didn't know he was inside Jackie but that was a weak hope. Callisto isolated Jackie from Rose and the TARDIS and he figured it was because he knew he was inside her mother and wanted him cut off from helping her or escaping. He saw Rose floundering for an answer and he knew the jig was up. He was about to tell Callisto where he was when Callisto suddenly seized Rose and threw her up against the TARDIS door.

"I'm no fool, Rose. I know full well where the Doctor is," he said, pointing to Jackie. "And I know what he did to your mother. Jackie never went rigid when I turned on the slave band so he must have blocked my control of her, right? Isn't that right, Doctor?" he said, turning his attention to Jackie.

"Well, it was worth a try," the DoctorJackie said, shrugging Jackie's shoulders.

Callisto chuckled.

"You are a fool, Doctor," Callisto said. "However, the kitty still feels like playing a bit with my mice before I dispatch them."

He moved his hand around Rose's neck and Jackie shuddered inwardly when he began to choke her. Rose gagged and tried to get away from him but he threw her to the floor and used the forcefield control to throw up another forcefield between himself and her and the TARDIS, splitting the room into three parts. He then made a hole in the forcefield long enough for him to get to the cell door before closing it again.

"I will return," he said, looking at Rose and then at DoctorJackie before he opened the cell door, stepped outside and closed it behind him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"So now what do we do?" Rose said when she got to her feet and walked over to the barrier separating her and her mother.

"I don't know but it seems like he knows my every move," the DoctorJackie said.

Yes, so why are you still trying to trick him, Jackie thought to the Doctor.

Because I'm a stupid idiot who makes you look smart by comparison, the Doctor thought back.

No comment, Jackie thought.

Rose hit the force field in frustration and sighed when it held.

"Maybe our friends will save us," Rose said to the DoctorJackie.

Or maybe we all die, Jackie thought.

"Jackie, button it," the Doctor growled back at her. "I need to think and you're not helping."

"Mum, button it," Rose said, guessing what her mother might be saying to him.

Can I speak to my daughter before something happens and we're separated again, Jackie though to the Doctor.

The Doctor changed places with her and after telling Rose it was her now, Jackie moved towards the force field.

"I find it hard to believe after all this that you still trust the man," Jackie said to Rose.

"Mum, he's doing his best. He prevented that bastard from taking control of you, didn't he?"

"I s'pose but we're back on the ship and prisoners of Callisto again," Jackie said.

"We'll find a way to escape. We have Jack and the others and they're still free, yeah?"

"You hope," Jackie said. "For all we know, he went back down and captured them as well."

"Well, what should we do then?" Rose said in exasperation. "Do you have any ideas?"

"No, I don't because I'm not used to all this."

"Well, we are so let the Doctor do his job," Rose said.

Jackie sighed.

"He swore to me that you'd be safe, Rose."

"I will be, Mum."

Jackie shook her head.

"I know you think I'm being intrusive and whinging about all this but I love you," Jackie said. "I always have and I always will and the last thing I want is for you to end up enslaved or raped or killed."

"I know, Mum, but there's nothing we can do right now. We have to wait till an opportunity comes."

Jackie nodded reluctantly. She was about to say something when suddenly there was another flash and she and Rose found themselves back in the Salt Plains without the TARDIS. They looked around but there was no sign of Jack or the others and there was nothing human or humanoid for miles around. Rose was about to say something but Jackie held up her hand and shut her up.

"Doctor wants to come back into you. He says he's confident that the blocks he put inside me will hold. Do you want that?"

Rose nodded and Jackie put her fingers against her temple and Rose felt the Doctor slide back into her.

Ah, much more pleasant, the Doctor thought to Rose when Jackie finished and lowered her arms.

Rose let him take control and the DoctorRose looked around.

"We're deep inside the Salt Plains," he said to Jackie after letting her know it was him. "Very deep. Probably miles away from Jack and the others."

"What about those…lizard things then?" Jackie said.

"Anthrosis? Perhaps but without Pagos or Tiana to speak for us and Vak is probably miles away now with the elders. We might end up being killed."

"By them or by something else," Jackie said.

"Yes, something else. I believe that is more a problem at the moment than the Anthrosis becoming hostile," the Doctor said, looking around. "I'm sure Callisto put us at this exact spot for a reason and I'm sure nothing good is here."

"Doctor," Jackie said, pointing over his shoulder.

The DoctorRose turned and saw a large spider coming up over a large hill.

"Yup, nothing good is here," the DoctorRose said, backing up and standing beside Jackie.

"So what do we do then?" Jackie said.

The Doctor looked at the spider, watching while they slowly came down the hill towards them. The spider was the size of a pony, black with stiff black hair all over its body. It had eight eyes and large jaws with moist mandibles jutting out. Jackie's heart raced and she backed away in terror as the spider homed in on them.

"Doctor, don't you dare get my daughter killed," Jackie yelled at him when she noticed the DoctorRose hadn't moved back.

Then suddenly, the DoctorRose ran towards the spider and Jackie screamed in terror, fearful for her daughter. The spider stopped for a few seconds and the DoctorRose veered off to the right, running in a diagonal line in front of it. The spider turned and pursued Rose while Jackie watched in silent horror. The spider followed the DoctorRose as she ran around it and ran towards the hill. The spider was fast but the DoctorRose managed to keep just ahead of it and Jackie screamed in terror when her daughter ran over the hill and the spider followed.

"Rose!" Jackie screamed when she lost sight of everyone.

Muttering a curse, Jackie sprinted towards the hill, intending to save her daughter and get her out of there or lose her life protecting her. She reached the top of the hill and froze. The DoctorRose had managed to climb onto the spider's back and the spider was spinning around in a tight circle, trying to shake her daughter's body off while the DoctorRose tried to grab at its head. While Jackie watched, the DoctorRose managed to get Rose's hands on the sides of the spider's head and hold them there. Then after a minute, the spider slowed down and stopped and Rose let go. Jackie watched, dumbfounded, while Rose slid off the spider's back and walked towards her. The spider followed and Jackie was about to yell out and warn her daughter but Rose held up her hands.

"It's alright, Mum," she said. "The Doctor went into the spider's mind."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Jackie was completely shocked as she watched this huge spider following Rose like a tame little dog.

"He's controlling the spider, Mum, see?" Rose said, turning and putting her hand on top of the spider's head.

Jackie made a face at the thought of her daughter stroking the spider's head like it really was a dog. But the spider stood beside Rose, passive and quiet and Jackie breathed a sigh of relief that the Doctor had been able to take control and stop the attack. She came down the hill when Rose beckoned to her. She took one look at the mandibles and the fangs that jutted from them and made another face.

"Doctor, are you alright?" Jackie said.

The spider bobbed up and down and Jackie figured that was a nod from the Doctor. She shook her head at the surreal scene before her.

"So what happens now?" Jackie said. "You can't go back into one of us without dispatching the spider, yeah? Or it'll attack us again."

The Doctor didn't say anything and Jackie realized that this was the first time he went into something that wasn't able to communicate. But she watched while he turned to Rose and stared at her as he folded his legs under his body and went down to the ground. Rose frowned for a moment before realizing his intent and she climbed on the spider's back. The spider looked at Jackie.

"You want me to ride you?" Jackie said to the spider.

The spider did another little bob of its body.

"Come on, Mum, he won't hurt us," Rose said, beckoning to her.

Jackie made a face but she walked over to the spider's body and Rose helped her as Jackie got on behind her. When they were on his back, the Doctor stood up, turned and walked off while Rose and Jackie rode him.

"So now what?" Jackie said while the Doctor carried them somewhere.

"I think we can use this spider to attack Callisto," Rose said, looking over her shoulder. "Surely, Callisto wouldn't be a match for a bloody great spider."

"Unless he goes into one of his own," Jackie said.

"If he does, he'd be giving up the Doctor's body," Rose said. "I doubt he'd do that."

"He might if he was somewhere where there were many spiders. He goes into a spider and let the others kill the Doctor's body," Jackie pointed out.

"And then he'd be stuck inside a spider," Rose countered. "As vain as Callisto is, you really think he'd wanna be trapped forever inside a spider, Mum?"

Jackie nodded in agreement.

"The Doctor can use this spider to attack him," Rose said, rubbing the spider's head. "Right, Doctor?"

The Doctor clumsily bobbed his head up and down.

"But how are we gonna communicate with him now?" Jackie said to Rose. "He can't talk now."

Rose thought about that.

"Doctor, could the TARDIS translate for ya?" she asked.

The Doctor nodded.

"But it's too far away right now?" Rose guessed.

The Doctor nodded and Rose looked at her mother.

"When it gets out of range, the telepathic circuits can't help," Rose said to Jackie.

"How far does it have to be to get out of range then?" Jackie said.

"Dunno," Rose said, shaking her head. "Pretty far, Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded.

"So where is Callisto then?" Jackie said. "He beamed us back here and leave us to die?"

"Must have done, I mean, this was out here, yeah?" Rose said, putting her hand on the spider's head.

"So he has the TARDIS now and can do what he likes with time and space?" Jackie said grimly.

"Yeah but…"

Rose trailed off in thought.

"You're thinking he'll still come back to make sure the Doctor's finished off," Jackie guessed.

"The Doctor is still a threat," Rose said. "He wouldn't leave him here without checking, right? And he has some of the Doctor's memories so he'd probably know about Jack being a time agent. Jack could find a way to find him and get the Doctor's body back. I'm thinking he'd want to make sure everyone was eliminated so he had the Doctor's body and the TARDIS free and clear. He could have killed everyone straight away but he keeps mucking about and letting everyone go and capturing them again and letting them go. The Doctor keeps saying he's playing a game with us. This might be part of the game."

"Maybe he was even counting on the Doctor going inside me and freeing me?" Jackie said.

"Yeah, I mean, I think all of this is planned. I don't know about this though," Rose said, patting the spider's head. "Surely he didn't think the Doctor would put his mind inside a spider."

"I wouldn't underestimate him, sweetie. Like you said, he's playing a game," Jackie said grimly.

The Doctor stopped moving and Rose and Jackie tilted slightly to the right to see why he wasn't moving. They saw an enormous hole in front of them, large enough for the Doctor to go down into the ground easily. The Doctor shifted his body so he was standing to the side of it. Rose slid off and came up beside the Doctor, putting her hand on the spider's head while she looked down into it with him. She frowned. She could see a faint glimmer of light deep inside the hole.

"Is this the spider's lair?" she asked the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded.

"Is it safe to go down?" Rose asked.

The Doctor thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Rose, be careful," Jackie said, sitting on the spider's back and watching as Rose sat down with her legs dangling into the hole.

Rose glanced at the Doctor. The Doctor was observing her but he wasn't making any signal for her to get back. She used her legs and felt around and finally felt a dirt ramp under her feet. She slowly slid down and stood up. She glanced at the Doctor. The Doctor was watching her quietly and Rose trusted him to protect her as she crouched down and tried to look down into the hole. Jackie slid off and walked around so she could see Rose.

"There's light down here," Rose said, glancing up at her mother. "Spiders make their own light?"

Jackie looked at the Doctor when he moved his body from side to side.

"I think the Doctor says no to that," Jackie said while the Doctor nodded in affirmation.

Jackie had a thought.

"Those lizard things, is this one of their tunnels then?" Jackie said to the Doctor.

Rose looked up at the Doctor and the Doctor nodded.

"Abandoned?" Rose said.

The Doctor nodded.

"The tunnels had these glow ball things on the walls," Rose said to her mother. "They lit up the tunnels. Do they last forever then?"

The Doctor shook his body back and forth.

"They last for many years?" Jackie offered.

The Doctor nodded.

"So the Anthrosis might have been killed off or moved away and the spider took over," Rose said to her mother.

She stood back up and slowly made her way down the dirt ramp. Jackie walked to the front of the hole, tested the hole with her right foot, found the ramp and followed Rose down. The Doctor moved over behind Jackie and followed them. Rose slowly went down the ramp, carefully putting her feet on the incline so she wouldn't fall. The air was musty and she wrinkled her nose. They walked down about fifty feet and Rose could see the glo balls on the walls. She looked around when the ground became level and moved up so her mother and the Doctor could come up behind her. Jackie walked up beside Rose and the Doctor came up on Rose's other side. Rose put her hand on the side of the Doctor's head and rubbed it while they looked at the long, empty corridor.

"Lighting makes the whole thing look creepy," Jackie said.

"Yeah but at least there is light and we don't have to walk in the dark," Rose said.

The Doctor walked in front of them. He turned to the side and caught their eyes and then turned back to the front and walked on.

"He wants us to follow him," Rose said to her mother.

"That figures," Jackie said.

She took her daughter's hand and gave it a squeeze before the two of them followed the Doctor down the long, empty corridor.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Jackie walked with Rose while they followed the Doctor down the corridor. The passageway was bare for about one hundred and fifty feet and then they saw a circular doorway off to the right. The Doctor stopped and Rose and Jackie stopped behind them. The Doctor turned, looked at them for a moment and Rose guessed he was telling them not to move. She said that aloud and the Doctor nodded and they watched while he went through the doorway.

"I hope the Doctor knows what he'd doing, Rose," Jackie said.

"He had the spider's memories," Rose said. "That's how he found this place. He would know it was abandoned and the spider was the only one using it. If it wasn't, he wouldn't let us come down here."

The Doctor came out of the doorway and nodded to them before turning and going back inside. Rose squeezed her mother's hand and they walked through the doorway. Jackie gasped when she saw several cocooned bodies lying on the floor, illuminated by the faint light of the glo balls. Rose walked over to two of them and bent down to examine them while the Doctor came up beside her and stared at a third in silence. Rose felt her mother come up behind her and she heard something being unzipped and her eyes widened when she suddenly remembered the rucksack on her back. She had been so busy and had gotten so used to the feel of it that she forgot it was there.

"You had this on your back, love," Jackie said as she peeked into it. "I figured you might have a torch but you saw the light and we didn't need them but…"

She found a small knife and pulled it out. She came over to Rose's free side and knelt down.

"I suppose since I've become a companion, I might as well pull my weight," she said to her daughter.

Rose slipped her rucksack off, intending to check the contents since she took it without question. She found a torch near the top, pulled it out and turned it on, using it to see inside while Jackie got on her knees, bent over and carefully cut away the webbing from the cocoon. The Doctor walked around to Jackie's free side and folded his legs under him so he could see what she was doing. Jackie glanced at him and they shared a glance before she continued her work. She cut enough of the cocoon and tested it to make sure it wouldn't stick to her fingers. She pulled it away and saw a decomposing lizard face.

"You're right, Rose," Jackie said, leaning back up. "This is one of those lizard things. It must have attacked them sometime in the past and killed them or killed enough that the others left."

Rose paused from rummaging in the rucksack and looked at the lizard head while Jackie pulled back the webbing. The Doctor was observing and Rose figured he was thinking about the situation and letting her and Jackie help him to figure things out. She actually felt comforted, not only by having the Doctor near but by having her mother with her helping them out. She was glad she was taking a proactive part in all this and not just standing around and whinging about their situation. Jackie looked around at the other cocoons.

"So I'm guessing they're all dead then," Jackie said to her daughter when she resumed her inspection of the rucksack.

Jackie called out and asked if anyone was alive. Rose paused with her hand in the rucksack and she and the Doctor looked around but there was no movement and no one answered.

"You said the TARDIS translated, would they understand me?" Jackie said.

"Dunno but it shouldn't matter. They should have responded to your voice anyway, yeah?" Rose said.

Jackie nodded.

"Anything useful in there?" Jackie said while the Doctor turned his attention back to the women.

"Yes, basic survival stuff. Matches, torch, portable tent, a bit of rope, knife…stuff like that," Rose said, glancing at her mother.

Rose got to the bottom and Jackie noticed she paused and frowned with her hand inside it.

"What's wrong?" Jackie said.

Rose pulled out a small flat disc and turned it over and over in her hand.

"I recognized everything except this," Rose said, showing it to her.

"Alien doodah," Jackie said with a shrug.

"Yeah but nothing else in here is," Rose said.

She was about to say something more when she saw the Doctor stand up. He raised his right front leg and put it back down. He raised his leg again and held it there while he nodded at the disc.

"Um…I think he's telling us to put the disc on the ground, Mum. Put it under his foot," Rose said, pointing to him.

Jackie put it under his foot and the Doctor pressed on the disc with his foot. He stepped back and a holographic image of a beautiful lady appeared in a light over the disc. She was young with flowing brown hair and a TARDIS blue dress.

"Rose, I am the TARDIS's holographic interface," she said while the Doctor tucked his legs back under him, settled down and observed. "I made sure you got this rucksack because I wanted to leave you a message."

"Oh," Rose said.

"What," Jackie said.

"This rucksack was the only one with my name on it. Jack, Ianto and the Doctor received plain ones," Rose said. "Did wonder why until things got crazy and I forgot I had it."

"I know what happened to the Doctor," the interface said. "And it pains me to know that he is no longer in his body. I cannot speak for him, except to say that I know he loves you dearly and he's thinking of you and your mother and he will find a way to get your mother back and get his body back and keep both of you safe. Trust in that, Rose."

The image faded and Rose choked up while the Doctor stood up, walked over to her and nudged her head with the side of his. Rose put her hand on the side of his head and rubbed it lovingly. Jackie picked up the disc and held it in her hands, watching while Rose stroked the side of the spider's head. She had to smile at that, realizing that her and her daughter were in good hands and perhaps they wouldn't end up dead after all. The Doctor looked at Jackie and Jackie stared into his eight black eyes and realized she could see a hint of the Doctor within them. She hesitated a moment and put her hand on the side of his head. She realized that the Doctor would move Heaven and Hell to protect her daughter and her as well and she softened her heart a bit more towards him.

The Doctor backed up and lay down again. Rose took the disc from her mother, zipped up the rucksack and put it on her back again before she and her mother climbed back on. When they were on his back, the Doctor carefully stood up, turned and walked out of the room with them.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

The Doctor walked down the corridor, using the spider's memories of his lair to navigate. He had known that the cocooned bodies were Anthrosis, he had seen the attack in the spider's memories. But he had enjoyed watching Jackie actually participate and help out and he allowed her and Rose to discover on their own the victim's identities. He had gained a newfound respect for Jackie the moment she stopped whining and became proactive about their situation. He was pleased that both of them were able to decipher his movements and intuit what he wanted. But he also knew there was a war room here as well as an abandoned lab. He was hoping the lab might have some sort of translator that he could use to communicate with his companions and he wanted to use the computer in the war room to try to find Jack and his friends. He had been taken by surprise by the holodisc and the message the TARDIS left for Rose. He hadn't known about it but he was glad she did that since it brought some comfort and hope to the woman he loved. And now Jackie seemed to relax around him so he was hoping that mean the situation would improve now.

The lab was nearest to their position. When he found the doorway, he entered and looked around. He felt Rose and Jackie slide off his back and he walked off to the left, exploring while he let Rose and Jackie inspect the right side. He listened to Jackie and Rose talking about the lab while he tried to open the cabinets. He shook his head when his spider legs proved useless with the handles on the drawers. Then he glanced over when Rose came up beside him.

"You want to see inside the drawers?" she said as Jackie came up beside her.

The Doctor nodded. He waited for Rose to open one but Rose was thinking about something.

"You came in here for something, yeah?" Rose said. "I mean, you ignored all these other rooms and headed straight for here. You're looking for something specific?"

The Doctor nodded, pleased she was reading his mind.

"If I put my hands on your head, could you just communicate without entering my mind?" Rose said.

The Doctor nodded enthusiastically, happy she was clever enough to figure that out. Rose put her hands on the sides of his head.

I'm so happy you figured this out, Rose, he thought to her. Makes it easier. Yes, I was hoping there was a translator disc that I could use to communicate while I'm in here. I think you're right; this spider body could be to our advantage at the moment. The disc sorta looks like the hologram disc, except smaller and it would fit on the side of my head or on my forehead and I can think and it will translate my thoughts to you. I was hoping it was in one of these drawers but as you can see, I have a teeny bit of trouble opening them. Would you be a lamb, my hearts…"

"The Doctor is looking for a translator disc that he can use to communicate with us," Rose said to her mother as she took her hands away from his head. "He thought it might be in one of these drawers but he can't open them with his spider legs."

Jackie nodded and the Doctor stood back far enough to let them work but not so far that he couldn't see into the drawers. Rose and Jackie opened two drawers side by side and stood back to let him see in, rummaging and moving things around so he could see everything in the drawers. They checked five drawers before the Doctor finally found what they were looking for. He nodded his head rapidly when Rose put her finger on the disc and she pulled it out of the drawer. Rose examined it. It had a black button on the top.

"Push it?" she said, showing it to the Doctor.

She put her fingers against the sides of the spider's head.

Put the disc against my head and push the button, that will affix the disc to my head, he thought to her.

Rose nodded. Her mother watched while she put the disc on the right side of his head, held it there and pushed the button.

Can you hear me, the Doctor thought to them.

"Yes," Rose said while Jackie nodded.

Good, that's what I needed in here, he thought to them. Now get on my back and I'll take you to the war room.

He lay down and Rose and Jackie got on his back. He stood up and walked out of the room.

"So what's it like, being a spider?" Rose asked as he walked down the corridor.

Weird, the spider's memories mostly consist of killing and eating different prey, not very interesting, he thought to them. But the layout of these tunnels is useful and that's what I'm doing now. Using its memories to guide myself through this labyrinth.

"What's in the war room?" Jackie asked.

I'm hoping I can use it to pinpoint our location and find Jack and the others. You'll have to help me, of course, but at least you can hear me and I can direct you without Rose having to put her fingers on my head and translate my thoughts.

The war room was further down the passageway. When they entered, they saw more cocooned bodies along the back wall. The Doctor walked over and examined them while Rose and Jackie slid off his body. The room had been dug out and made square and there was a large monitor on a stand to the left along with several consoles. To the right was a large wooden table with wooden chairs around it. On top of the table was some paperwork and Jackie walked over and examined it while Rose looked at the buttons and switches on the console.

"How do…"

Rose turned to ask the Doctor how to start it and noticed he was still staring at the bodies, lost in thought. Rose walked over to his side and looked at them.

"Horrible way to die," Rose said as she rubbed the side of his head.

Yes. But that's not why I was looking at them.

"Why are you looking at them?" Rose said.

Trying out a scenario in my mind, a little plan that we could use to trap Callisto.

"Yeah?" Rose said.

You trust me, don't you?

"Yes," Rose said.

Because I was thinking perhaps I could wrap you up and make it look like you were cocooned like these people were and perhaps that would fool Callisto into thinking you were dead. But I need to try out my webbing skills. I was wondering if you would allow me to wrap your body and we can use the knife to cut you free when I'm finished. Is that alright?

Rose nodded.

I won't hurt you; the cocooning doesn't hurt, so there's nothing to worry about except maybe a bit of dizziness from my spinning you around during the wrapping, he thought while Jackie walked over. Jackie, could you take her rucksack and you can cut her free when I'm finished.

Jackie took the rucksack off her back and the Doctor instructed Rose to lay down in front of him and relax with her arms and legs straight. Jackie watched while Rose did as asked and waited. Rose heard the Doctor muttering to himself about what steps to take before he approached her. Rose lay still and let the Doctor pick her up with his two front legs, holding her under his jaws. He paused for a moment in thought and then slowly began to spin her, using his legs to rotate her while a thick stream of webbing came out of his mouth.

"Wow, this is weird, now I know how a fly feels," Rose said to her mother while the Doctor wrapped up the lower part of her body.

He left the head unwrapped and when he was done, he gently lowered her to the floor, letting her rest on her back.

"How do you feel?" Jackie said, bending down to her daughter.

"Tight. I'm betting this is what I would feel like if I were a mummy," Rose said.

"So what will you do with this then?" Jackie said to the Doctor.

I was thinking if I could find a way to track him I could cocoon you both and have it look like you fell victim to the spiders. If Callisto finds you, he'd assume I was inside one of you and probably dead. But I'm guessing he might return anyway to check or bring us on board again.

"And you're hoping if it looks like we're dead, he'll let his guard down," Jackie said.

That's part of it; I'm still working out all the details.

"But what about our breathing? What if he cuts open the cocoon and checks? We can't hold our breath forever," Rose said.

Well, that's another part of my plan, I can put you both in a state of suspended animation and lower your heart rate and body temperatures to the point that it looks like you're dead when in reality you'll be in a trancelike state.

"It might work, Mum," Rose said to Jackie. "It's worth a try."

"S'pose. There aren't many options at the moment," Jackie said. "Not here in the middle of nowhere. But you'll have to look after us if we're in a trance."

I know and I will, the Doctor thought to them. I'm hoping I could overpower Callisto, wrap him up and transfer my mind back into my body. Maybe even put him in the spider and subdue him that way.

"It'll be risky," Jackie said.

"Yeah, but…we like risky," Rose teased.

"I can see that," Jackie said dryly. "Honestly, I never thought you were an adrenaline junkie, Rose."

"Um…wasn't but…I met him," Rose said, nodding her head at the Doctor.

"Can I cut my daughter out of this webbing now?" Jackie said to the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded and Rose relaxed while Jackie carefully freed her from the webbing.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

After Rose was freed from the webbing, the Doctor led them over to the console. He studied it for a moment before telling his companions how to turn it on. Rose stood in front of a computer keyboard that was beside the monitor and the Doctor told her what to type in while Jackie stood on his free side and watched. He had Rose do a scan of the area and map out their position on a 3D representation of the planet. The map came up and there was a blinking red dot in the middle of a vast desert like area.

"That dot is us?" Jackie said to the Doctor.

Yes, the Doctor thought as he nodded. Good job I was here before because I know the planet fairly well. If you notice, we're far into the Salt Plains, very far. That green area near the edge of the map is where the military compound is located.

"But that's miles and miles from where we're at," Rose said in alarm. "He really did drop us off in the middle of nowhere. But…the Anthrosis…they're this far out then? We were really this far from the compound all along?"

Yes and no, we were far out but perhaps halfway between our present position and the compound.

"That's still far though," Jackie said. "Those lizard creatures live this far out?"

No, they were pushed this far out by the Arcadians. The Arcadians didn't want them anywhere near their towns and cities, the Doctor thought.

"So without the TARDIS, we're basically screwed," Rose said.

Pretty much, yeah, the Doctor thought as he nodded. There's nothing between us and the compound except barren soil, sparse vegetation and things that can kill you. We'd be dead before we got there if we started walking now.

"What about traveling underground?" Jackie said. "Using these tunnels?"

They're not connected to the other settlement, the Doctor thought. There's more than one settlement out here. The Anthrosis breed fast and they spread out to avoid overpopulation. Even if we managed to walk to the end of these tunnels, it still wouldn't connect to the next settlement and the next settlement could still be miles away which means an aboveground walk. Not to mention, I don't know what the entire settlement is like. The spider never explored all of it. For all I know, there are more spider nests in other areas.

"So we could still run into more spiders?" Rose said.

Perhaps but the spiders are very territorial. They don't come together except to mate and if they know a spider is here, they try to stay far away. That doesn't mean a spider looking for shelter won't run into us but hopefully, that won't happen.

"What about the TARDIS then? Where is it?" Jackie said.

The Doctor asked Rose to run an artron energy scan on Arcadia. He directed her on how to do it. When she was finished, there were two black blinking dots where the red dot had been.

So that is you and Jackie, the Doctor thought. I don't register because the radiation only affects the physical body and the spider's never been inside the TARDIS before.

"Radiation?" Jackie said alarmed. "There's radiation on me now?"

The Doctor explained about artron radiation and that it was harmless and Jackie relaxed. When he finished his explanation, he asked Rose to bring up the other side of the planet. Rose pushed a few buttons and the map view switched to the other side of the planet.

Okay, this is problematic, the Doctor thought to them.

"Why?" Jackie said.

No more dots which means the scan is picking up only you and Rose. Jack and Ianto have been inside the TARDIS too but they're not registering.

"Oh God, they're not on the planet anymore," Rose said.

Yes. I have a feeling…

"Callisto took them," Jackie finished the Doctor's thought.

He put us here and must have transmatted them back to his ship, the Doctor thought. Rose, run a scan of the area around Arcadia. Let's search for the TARDIS and Callisto's ship.

He directed Rose and after a few minutes, the view on the monitor changed to outer space and the view around Arcadia.

The dots would be white now since space is black, the Doctor thought. But I don't see any sign of them. Okay, Rose, widen out. Do about a…five light year scan.

He directed her and the view widened out so Arcadia was now a faint white dot among many planets and stars. They looked but saw no blinking white dots. The Doctor directed Rose to widen the parameters to ten light years and Arcadia was nothing now except a tiny white dot among the other stars and planets. But there were still no blinking dots and the Doctor cursed.

"He didn't use the TARDIS to go back in time, I hope," Rose said.

I don't think so. The TARDIS now knows I'm no longer in my body and I gave her commands not to listen to anyone resembling me until further notice. Callisto might get Jack to let him in and he might pretend to be me but the TARDIS won't be fooled by it, especially if she runs a scan of his mind.

"But he's far enough away that the TARDIS isn't around to translate," Rose said.

The Doctor nodded. He asked Rose to keep going and they kept checking until they got to one hundred million light years and then he stopped her.

It's further than one hundred million, so we can assume he's quite a long distance away now, the Doctor thought. And still no sign of Jack or Ianto, so we have to assume that they and possibly Tiana and Pagos are his prisoners now.

"Is there a way to bring them back here?" Jackie said.

The Doctor turned away for a moment and began to pace back and forth while he thought that over. Rose shook her head.

"What if he took Jack and Ianto to somewhere else far away and he wants to continue the game there?" Rose said to her mother.

"Then I suppose he'd send for us eventually, Rose," Jackie said, turning and leaning back against the monitor.

"Which means we'd have to wait for that to happen," Rose said grimly.

Rose glanced at the Doctor and noticed he was now still and staring intently at Jackie's leg. Then he walked over to her and continued to stare.

"What? What is it?" Jackie said.

A lot of mind control devices have homing beacons attached to them, the Doctor thought to them. Because a lot of people use mind slaves as assassins and they need to be able to track their movements. If I can find something that could trigger the homing beacon, Callisto would see it on the monitor on his ship. It might be a way to lure him back here.

The Doctor asked them to get on his back again and when they were sitting on his back, he walked back to the lab. When they got there, Rose and Jackie slid off and walked with him back to the cabinets.

I don't have my sonic but maybe there's something similar that would trigger the homing beacon, the Doctor thought as the women opened the drawers for him. Hullo…

Rose had opened a drawer on the far right and the Doctor held out a leg to stop her.

There, that long thin penlike thing near the back, he thought to her. I think that's a sonic probe. It might do the trick.

Rose pulled it out and held it out to him.

Yes, it is, the Doctor nodded. Rose, aim it at Jackie's leg and turn it on, let's see what happens.

Rose knelt down and held the tip of the probe close to Jackie's leg while her mother watched her. She turned it on and heard a faint humming coming from the probe. Then they heard a higher pitched beeping and she turned off the probe.

That's it, the Doctor said excitedly. That's the homing beacon beeping.

"So he'll see it now," Jackie said.

Yes, it should send a signal to his ship. Mind you, it might take several minutes if he's more than one hundred million light years away but it'll get there eventually.

"So we just wait then and see what happens?" Rose said.

Yes, but in the meantime, let's see if we can find something that will get this bodysuit off your mother.

"Yes, by all means, look for something," Jackie said.

Rose laid the probe on the counter and she and Jackie resumed their search for something to loosen the bodysuit while the Doctor silently watched.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Jack sighed as he leaned against the steel wall of his cell. Ianto was sitting on the floor beside him and Pagos and Tiana were standing by the bars, looking out and watching for Callisto's return.

"Great, so now what do we do?" Ianto said, glancing up at Jack.

"I don't know but I'm sick of these stupid games," Jack said tersely. "Either kill us or let us go, quit toying with us."

"What of Kel'shak? Where is he?" Pagos said, turning to Jack.

"Who knows," Jack said, shrugging. "But if he's done something to him and Rose and Jackie…"

He looked over Pagos's shoulder when a metal door slid open and Callisto entered. Tiana and Pagos hissed at him. Jack noticed that Callisto had gotten rid of the Doctor's outfit and was now wearing something similar to Jackie's bodysuit. Jack had to control himself when he felt a boner coming on and remind himself that this was not his friend. Callisto stopped and stared at the hissing Anthrosis with amusement.

"You enjoy fraternizing with animals?" he said to Jack and Ianto as he gestured to the Anthrosis.

"They're more human than you are," Jack said as Ianto stood up. "At least they don't go around stealing people's bodies."

He noticed Callisto was eyeing him intently.

"I have his memories, you know," Callisto finally said to him.

"Yeah, I know," Jack said.

"I know you fancy him," Callisto said. "Don't you?"

Jack glanced at Ianto.

"I think he's handsome," he said nonchalantly. "And he is."

"But you want him," Callisto said, running his hand down the Doctor's chest.

"Yes, you're right. I want him," Jack said coming closer to the bars. "Him, as in his soul and personality, without that, he's just a body and I'd rather have all of him. Since you're not him, I'm not interested."

Callisto snickered.

"Oh really?" he said, pointing to Jack's crotch.

Jack grimaced. He was hoping his boner wasn't that obvious.

"I wore this just for you," Callisto said, running his hand down the chest again.

"Like I said, the Doctor is more than just a body. I fancied him in his previous body and that was because I admired him and fell in love with his soul as well as his body. You're not him, so you're wasting your time. And speaking of wasting time. Quit playing this stupid cat and mouse game. Kill us and get it over with if you're going to."

Callisto smirked.

"You, come with me," he said, pointing to Jack. "And only you. If I open this door and someone else tries to escape, I'll shoot them," he said, pulling a tiny blaster out of a hidden pocket.

"Everyone step back," Jack said to his friends.

Pagos and Tiana hesitated. They both looked at Callisto.

"You heard him," Callisto growled at them. "All animals, human or otherwise, step back and get against the wall."

"Do it," Jack said to the Anthrosis.

Pagos and Tiana hissed at Callisto before going to back wall.

"Fucking reptiles," Callisto muttered as he watched the Anthrosis join Ianto.

When they were up against the back wall, Callisto pulled a small key out of the pocket. He kept his eyes on Ianto and the Anthrosis as he unlocked the door. Jack went through the open door quickly before his friends decided to gang up and try to escape. He stood near the door while Callisto quickly closed it and locked it. He turned and pointed the blaster at Jack while he put the key back in his pocket.

"Follow me," he said to Jack.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Doctor and Rose were able to find a stronger sonic probe, one that had settings on it so they had Jackie sit in a metal chair while they tried different settings on the bodysuit. They'd tried three different settings without success.

"Is there a very strong setting then?" Rose said after the third try.

"If that bastard glued this on me and it's permanent…" Jackie growled.

I'd get out of the way then, the Doctor thought to Rose.

Rose chuckled as she adjusted the probe to a higher setting.

"Yeah, she'll tear him limb from limb then," Rose said.

Just make sure he's out of my body before you do the limb tearing though, Jackie, the Doctor thought to her. I do like that body and would like it back in one piece.

"I'll try this one," Rose said, stopping on a setting. "But if I go to high, will that hurt Mum? I mean I don't want to cook her."

I don't think it would affect her in that way, the Doctor thought.

"I'll take it slow, just to be safe," Rose said.

She tried the sonic probe on Jackie's back, just at the collar. She held it on for several seconds and then tried to get her fingers under the bodysuit.

"Doctor!" she said when she found she could slip her fingers a bit under the collar.

The Doctor came around the back and Rose looked at him as she kept her fingers under the collar.

"I can't move my fingers any further than that though," she said to the Doctor.

Try a slightly higher setting then, that should do it, the Doctor thought.

Rose nodded and adjusted the sonic up a couple more settings. She tried it again and was thrilled when she got her whole hand under the bodysuit.

That's it, keep it there, the Doctor thought. Jackie, stand up so she can run it all over the bodysuit.

Jackie stood up and stepped away from the chair so Rose could work without any obstructions. Rose ran the sonic up and down the back of the bodysuit while the Doctor watched from the side. Jackie sighed when she felt the lycra loosening and leaving her bare back.

"Thank God," she said as Rose tested it and was able to put her whole arm down her mother's back. "What will I wear though?"

I suggest keeping that on for the moment, the Doctor thought to her. I know you hate it, Jackie, but we don't have any clothes here except lab coats and I doubt you wanna wear that. The material isn't bonded to your skin now and I think you might be more comfortable now.

"Yeah, you're right, I can feel a difference," Jackie said.

"If you don't mind though, please take it off long enough to take the homing beacon off. That way, we'll have it away from you and he can't enslave your mind as well."

Jackie nodded. Rose moved around to the front and Jackie smiled lovingly at her while she finished loosening the bodysuit. The Doctor told them he'd be waiting outside while they took it off and got the mind control band off her leg. Rose and Jackie watched him go out the door before Rose turned her attention back to her mother and the task at hand.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Jack scoffed when he saw where Callisto led him to. They were standing outside the TARDIS.

"Trying to go somewhere and can't?" Jack said, guessing the reason he was brought here.

He knew the Doctor told the TARDIS about his situation and told her not to let anyone who looked like him to control her until further notice. He guessed that Callisto had tried to pass himself off as the genuine article, only to be denied and he was here to verify the Doctor's identity at pain of death.

His suspicions were confirmed when Callisto told him exactly that as he used the TARDIS key to open the door…or try to open the door since now the key wouldn't work. Jack grinned when Callisto let out a curse and tried to jiggle the key in the lock.

"The Doctor told the TARDIS not to trust anyone that looked like him," Jack said smugly. "She wasn't fooled by you and now she's locking you out."

"Well, tell her to open the damn door then," Callisto snarled as he turned to him.

"What makes you think she'll listen to me?" Jack said. "She can scan the outside of her box and she sees you. She won't open the door if you're standing here and she'll block you if you try to enter after me. So you're stuck."

Callisto glared at him while Jack gave him the smug look. Then he whipped out the blaster and shot Jack in the heart. He smirked when Jack fell dead at his feet.

"Now who's smug?" he said before he kicked the dead body.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"We're finished, Doctor," Rose called to him.

The Doctor came back inside the room and Rose held up the black leather strap that had been on Jackie's leg. The small, thin black box was beeping and a small red light flashed repeatedly on top of it.

Great, he thought to her. Carry it for me in your pocket since I have no pockets of my own.

Rose nodded and put it in her pocket.

Don't worry, if we need to escape, we can throw it away from us now, the Doctor thought.

"It won't hurt her, will it?" Jackie said. "It can't enslave her mind?"

No. if it was around her leg, yes. But not in her pocket. The only thing she has to worry about is Callisto using the homing signal to home in on her but like I said, we can toss it away if he gets too close.

Rose nodded. She frowned when the Doctor stared at her intently.

"What is it?" she said.

I'm a bit peckish, you've been so helpful. Can I have some of your blood now?

Rose giggled and patted him on the head.

"Nah, you don't want that," she said.

She laughed when the Doctor nudged her gently with his head.

Come on, Rose, I can wrap you up nice and comfy. It won't hurt much, just a sip, the Doctor thought as he nudged her.

"Mum, he's bothering me," Rose whined before laughing at the Doctor's nudging.

Jackie smiled at the playful attitude between them. She'd seen glimpses of it whenever they came to the flat but nothing like this. She could see how gentle the Doctor was being while he nudged her and whined about being hungry and how gentle Rose was with her playful shoves and slaps on his head while she protested about being wrapped up and fed on. She could see now why Rose wasn't afraid to travel with him and why she hadn't gone insane from all she'd seen and done. Being with him and having these little moments lightened the mood and allowed them to relieve some tension and stress. Rose had other boyfriends but none of them showed the same level of care for her daughter or showed so much playfulness. The Doctor was in the body of a creature that could very easily kill them but yet, he was being as gentle as a kitten. She could see more and more why Rose loved him so much and why she was so devoted to him.

Om nom nom, the Doctor was thinking as he waggled his mandibles back and forth.

Rose laughed and slapped his head lightly.

"No, I don't want to be a burrito," Rose said to him.

But…I like burritos, big, bloody burritos, the Doctor thought to her.

"Mum, tell him to behave," Rose said to Jackie.

Jackie grinned and feigned a stern look.

"Doctor, behave," she said, pointing to him.

The Doctor shivered his body and Rose laughed when he tucked his legs under and lay at her feet.

Yes, Mum, the Doctor thought to Jackie.

Jackie laughed at that and patted his head.

"Good boy," she said.

I really can't have a blood burrito, the Doctor thought to Rose as he looked at her.

Rose pointed to the cocoons.

"Tuck in," she said to him.

Ugh, no. I want fresh blood, that's stale, he thought to Rose.

Rose got on his back.

"Up, horsie!" she said to him.

She thinks I'm a horse now, he thought to Jackie while Rose giggled.

"You're the size of a pony so I can understand why," Jackie said to him.

The Doctor stood up with Rose on his back.

Since she's so willing to sit on me, I'll take her to my web and om nom nom her, the Doctor thought to Jackie.

"Giddy up, horsie!" Rose said as the Doctor walked towards the doorway.

Jackie followed, walking by the Doctor's side. She went through after the Doctor carried Rose through the doorway and came up beside him when the Doctor stopped and thought.

"What's wrong?" Jackie said.

Nothing, just reviewing the spider's memories about the layout and deciding where to go, the Doctor thought to her. I want to find a place where we can lay the trap but still have room to maneuver. Ooo, I think I found something. Climb aboard, Jackie, he thought as he lay down.

Rose helped her on and when both women were on his back, the Doctor got up and walked away. He found a doorway just past the war room and went inside. The interior was large, covered with webbing and there were a few cocoons stuck inside the webs. The ceiling was about thirty feet above their heads and the Doctor lay down, let the women get off and then started climbing some of the webbing, testing his footing on it. He then came off the webbing and walked over to Rose. He asked her to let him wrap her up again and Rose lay down.

"Here goes the dizzy feeling again," Rose said to Jackie as the Doctor walked up to her.

The Doctor wrapped her up, leaving her neck and head exposed. Then he picked her up and held her to his underbelly with his two front legs while he went back up the webbing. Near the top he expelled some sticking webbing from his mouth and put Rose's back against the glob. Rose stayed put and the Doctor moved to her side and turned sideways so he could get a better look at her.

"Weird," Rose said, looking down at her mother while she was suspended in the webbing.

Om nom nom, the Doctor thought, wiggling his mandibles at her.

Rose giggled and told him to button it.

Are you comfortable, the Doctor asked her.

"It's a bit tight but I'm comfortable enough," Rose said. "I don't even feel like I'm standing because the webbing is supporting my body."

I'm testing this out because if we lure Callisto in here, I want to be sure you and Jackie are comfortable because I want it to look like you've been put up here for a snack, the Doctor thought. I might have to wrap your head a bit but I will do it in a way that will still let you breathe. The only problem is it's a bit too low. If you're going to be put in a trance, I want you up high enough where Callisto can't reach you.

He turned his body and looked up at the ceiling, rubbing his right mandible thoughtfully with his right front leg while he thought. Rose heard him thinking softly and figured that was him thinking to himself but because of the translator, his inner monologue was still being broadcast.

Up near the ceiling is a better position, the Doctor was thinking softly to himself while he stared at the dirt ceiling. Have to extend the web up to it though. Shouldn't take long.

The Doctor shifted until his body was diagonal. Rose realized he was gauging the size of the room since he kept turning to look at all the walls. Then he turned his attention back to the ceiling before he expelled some webbing from his mouth. Rose watched in wonder while he built on to the web and extended it upwards.

"You know how to build a web?" Jackie said to the Doctor.

I have the spider's memories. I studied them and now I'm copying his technique, the Doctor thought to her as he worked. I was thinking of covering this entire wall but I think I'll just do a small section. I want you both high and safe if we're going to do this. Just wait a tic, won't take long to do this.

It took about twenty minutes to extend up to the ceiling and make the webbing wide enough to accommodate both Rose and Jackie. When he was finished, he inspected his handiwork briefly before going back down to Rose. He stopped at her side and turned sideways again while Rose watched him.

You could look terrified, you know, the Doctor thought to her. Especially since I could om nom nom you now.

"Oh no, big spider thing, please don't eat me, spare my life, Rose said melodramatically.

"Bwahahaha!" the Doctor said while Rose giggled.

He moved the cocoon up slightly with his leg and used his right fang to cut through the sticking webbing. Rose slipped a bit but the Doctor stopped her with his leg, quickly moved over her and used his front four legs to secure her to his underside before going upwards. He secured her near the top and moved away when she was safely secured.

"Wow, this is really high up," Rose said, looking down at her mother.

That's the intention. I want you out of his reach, he thought to her. Hold on, I want a view from the bottom.

He left her and went back down the webbing. He stood with Jackie and looked up at her.

"Hello," Rose said cheerfully.

She laughed when Jackie waved and the Doctor waggled his front foot in an imitation of a wave.

I think that'll do nicely, the Doctor thought to Jackie. She's high up and the web is sticky so he won't be able to climb up to her without sticking to the webbing.

"And if we're not moving, he won't shoot at us," Jackie said.

The Doctor nodded.

That's why I want to put you in a trance, to ensure you won't move and become a target for him, he thought to her.

He looked at Rose and then turned.

Well, on with other things now. See ya, Rose, he thought as he started to go out of the room.

"Oi!" Rose said while her mother chuckled. "You get me down now, ya git!"

Git, the Doctor thought, turning back to her. Git? You want to come down and you're calling me names? Do you think that's going to convince me to free you and keep you from becoming om nom nom? Give me one good reason why I should free you from my clutches, little fly?"

"Because I'll slap you if you don't," Jackie teased.

She and Rose laughed when the Doctor zoomed up the webbing and hurriedly freed Rose.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Jackie started to cut Rose out of the cocoon when the Doctor laid her at his feet but the Doctor stopped her for a moment.

I think we need to go ahead and put you both in a trance, he said to them. We sent the signal and Callisto might beam in here at any moment. We need to be prepared. So if you can free her hands so she can put them against my head, Jackie?

Jackie nodded. She carefully cut Rose's hands and arms out of the cocoon while the Doctor stood back and watched. When they were free, Rose put her hands against the sides of his head when he came back and stood over her. The Doctor told her to relax and Jackie knelt nearby and watched while Rose's eyelids slowly drooped and she fell into a peaceful sleep. The Doctor asked Jackie to keep her hands against his head and she stood and pressed Rose's hands against his head while he deepened the trance. After five minutes, he told Jackie to take her hands away and Jackie lowered her daughter's hands and put them by her side.

"Doctor, I want to stay awake," Jackie said when she stood up.

In the cocoon, the Doctor thought to her.

"No, I was thinking if you could put that strap back on me, I could tell Callisto I managed to get away and lead him back here to you," Jackie said.

The Doctor thought about that.

"It would be dangerous, Jackie," he said to her.

"Doctor, my daughter has just allowed herself to be put in a trance and become bait for this madman," she said. "She's completely helpless and yet, she trusts you so much that she did this without the slightest protest. She has faith in this plan and in you and I love that but I'm her mother and I want to make sure she comes out of this alive. If I have to risk my life and perhaps even die to ensure that, I will. My life doesn't matter as much to me as hers does."

I understand, the Doctor said, nodding. If that is your wish, I won't force you to go into a trance. I just wanted to be sure you understood the risks.

"I do and I accept them," Jackie said, nodding.

The Doctor nodded and she put her hand on his head.

"Doctor, I know we've been at odds in the past. But you and I have something in common and that's our love for Rose. I know that you'll do anything to keep her safe and that's why I'm willing to help you. She's risking her life to make this plan a success and I need to do the same."

Thank you, Jackie, the Doctor said. Thank you for helping and not just whinging about the situation.

"Well, whinging doesn't help anyone, especially not now," Jackie said.

The Doctor nodded. He told Jackie to go ahead and cut Rose out of the webbing so she could get at the strap in her pocket. Once she was free and Jackie had the strap, the Doctor gently picked Rose up and rewrapped her. This time he covered her from head to toe, making sure the webbing around her face was thinner so she could still breathe. He checked her over to make sure she was safe before picking her up again and carrying her up the webbing to the ceiling.

"Doctor, I've been thinking," Jackie said while she watched him. "Perhaps I can pretend I'm running away from here and hopefully run into Callisto. I can tell him that you might still be alive inside Rose's mind and lead him back here. That way you can ambush him."

I like that, the Doctor said as he affixed Rose to the web. However, when you lead him in here, I will be outside the room at first and that way I can block the doorway and his escape.

He finished with Rose and stared at her as she hung suspended from the webbing. Jackie swore she saw a loving look in his eyes while he gazed at her. Then he turned and came back down the webbing towards Jackie.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Damn him," Callisto snarled as he walked into the main control room on his ship. "Cocky arsehole, I'm glad he can't die because I'll have so much fun killing him again and again."

He had just dumped Jack's body into an unoccupied cell so he could deal with him later when he woke up. Then he came into the control room to get an update on their surroundings and their situation. That's when he noticed the monitor at the front had switched on and there was a loud beeping sound coming from it and a map of Arcadia with a flashing black dot near the spot where he had transmatted the Doctor, Rose and Jackie. He hurried to it and stared at the map. It took him a moment to realize it was the homing beacon on Jackie's leg.

"Now what has the Doctor gone and done?" he muttered as he stared at it. "Well, perhaps I could force the Time Lord to pilot his TARDIS if I threatened to torture and kill his beloved Rose and his friends."

He was out of range when it came to transmatting so he decided to go back and transmat down. He figured at the very least he could collect his slave and reprogram her again. He set a course for Arcadia and entered warp speed when the course was locked.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Doctor stood outside the room, allowing Jackie to take off the bodysuit and strap the homing device on her leg again. He was thrilled that Jackie had added to the plan but at the same time he was worried it might backfire and Rose might have to see the dead body of her mother. He was determined to protect them both with every fiber of his being.

"It's alright, Rose."

The Doctor perked up when he heard Jackie inside the room.

"You rest. The Doctor and me, we'll protect you from that nutter," she was saying.

The Doctor's heart was warmed by that. He could imagine Jackie standing there under her daughter, saying that to her while she slept. Rose couldn't hear her mother but he liked to think that perhaps deep down she could and was comforted by that. He heard Jackie calling to him, telling her she was ready and he walked back into the room and they both prepared for Callisto's arrival.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

"Get moving!" Callisto snarled as he shoved Jack towards the hole in the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," Jack growled through gritted teeth while Callisto kept a blaster trained on his back.

Callisto grinned. Since receiving the signal, he decided to take Jack with him as a human shield and leverage in case his nemesis was up to something. He kept close to him but he was wary and held his blaster tight in case Jack spun around and tried to disarm him. His suspicions were raised further when they went underground and he saw the glo balls.

"This better not be a trap or you'll watch your friends die here and now," Callisto said to Jack.

"Really? You're not gonna play your games any longer, how refreshing," Jack said dryly, glancing over his shoulder at him.

Callisto considered shooting him in the back for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth the trouble. They walked through the lighted corridor, Callisto tracking Jackie on a little Ipod-like tablet. He could tell from the monitor that Jackie was just up ahead of them. He shifted his movement until he could see around Jack. There was no sign of Jackie so far but he could tell she was close.

"She's up ahead, go find her," Callisto said to Jack after he told him to stop moving.

"Yes, Massa," Jack said, bowing to him.

Callisto gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to shoot him. He handed him the tablet and glowered at Jack as he sauntered off in search of Jackie.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Jackie was standing just inside the opening of the room where Rose was cocooned. The Doctor was up the corridor, hiding in another room. She had hazarded a quick glance when she heard Callisto speaking and was shocked to see Jack was with him. She had to quickly rethink her strategy, trying to decide when to run out. The last thing she wanted was to lead Callisto to her daughter but she hadn't counted on Jack being here. She decided to let Jack come to her; perhaps she could enlist his help. She heard a soft beeping sound outside a moment before Jack stepped through the door.

"Hi, I'm here to find you," Jack said dryly to Jackie.

"Is Callisto here as well?" Jackie said softly.

"He's outside and down the passageway a bit. I'm supposed to bring all of you back to him or else I'll suffer horrible, horrible death," Jack said in a monotone voice.

"The Doctor's here but he's in another room. We were attacked by this bloody great spider and he managed to put his mind inside it."

Jack raised his eyebrow.

"The Doctor's a spider now?" he said.

Jackie nodded.

"What about Rose?"

Jackie pointed to the cocooned Rose.

"The Doctor did that?" he said to Jackie after he looked where she was pointing.

"Yes but she's still alive. We have a plan."

"Well, by all means, let me in on it, Mrs. Tyler," Jack said.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Callisto tapped his foot. He sighed, hoping Jack wasn't trying to do something to defy him. He was about to go when he suddenly saw him and Jackie coming out of the room and heading towards them.

"We've got a problem," Jack said to him.

"No, we don't. Jackie Tyler is with you and that's what I asked you to retrieve," Callisto said, looking Jackie over.

"My daughter may be dead," Jackie said to him.

"And?" Callisto said dispassionately.

"And the Doctor might still be inside her; don't you want to make sure he's well and truly gone now?" Jackie said angrily.

"And what happened to your daughter then?" Callisto said, not really interested.

"A spider got her," Jackie said, trying to be as emotional as she could.

She noticed the smirk on Callisto's face and had to restrain herself from punching him.

"So why are you still alive then?" Callisto said.

"We were trying to get out of the heat and came down here," Jackie said, still trying to be emotional. "We ran into a spider and ran but Rose wasn't fast enough and…the spider caught her and wrapped her up and took her away. I ran after her but I tripped and fell and I heard a beeping coming from my leg but I ignored it and I finally found Rose just before Jack found me," she said, praying he would buy her story.

"And if you don't mind, I'd like to get Rose down and give her a proper burial somewhere," Jack added. "I don't want her becoming some spider's dinner."

Jackie could tell he wasn't completely buying their story.

"See for yourself if you don't believe me," she said quickly, trying to get him to come with her so the Doctor could seize him.

Callisto sighed.

"Alright, but if this is a trap…"

Jack and Jackie shared a glance before turning around and leading him back to the room. On the way, the beeping stopped and Jackie looked over her shoulder just in time to see Callisto putting the remote back in his pocket.

"Sorry, that was irritating me," he said to her.

Jackie refrained from blurting out that there were more irritating things she could think of than the beeping of the homing device. Especially since Callisto was being cooperative at the moment. They entered the room and Callisto kept Jackie and Jack in front of him while he looked where they were pointing.

"Ah, I see," he said, making them go over to the section of webbing where Rose was hanging. "Yes, it appears she's in a spot of bother, eh?"

He chuckled when he noticed the pissed off looks on Jack and Jackie's faces.

"So? What do you want me to do about it?" Callisto said. "You want her, go get her then."

Jack glanced at him and pretended to test the webbing, hoping the Doctor was nearby and ready to spring the trap. He hoped that Callisto wouldn't try to shoot Rose down or shoot her just to make sure she was dead. Jackie pretended to confer with Jack about what to do, again trying to buy time and keep Callisto there. As they argued, Jackie looked over Jack's shoulder and noticed the Doctor was peeking into the room. Callisto was watching them with an exasperated look on his face so he failed to see what Jackie saw. She quickly looked back at Jack in case Callisto decided to see what she was looking at. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Doctor slowly and silently enter the room.

"If you don't hurry up," Callisto finally said. "I will shoot her, take you away from here and leave her to rot."

"Oh, I don't think you could do that," Jackie said smugly.

"Oh? And why not?" Callisto said.

Jackie smirked.

"Look behind you," she said.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

Callisto sighed.

"Is this some sort of trick?" he said to her.

"Just look behind you and see," Jackie said, pointing over his shoulder.

Callisto sighed. He turned, expecting to see nothing, and instead he saw a gigantic spider blocking the doorway. He looked at Jackie and Jack and saw the looks of triumph on their faces.

"Are you insane?" Callisto said. "If it kills me, it'll kill you as well. Just like Rose," he said, pointing up to her.

"No, actually, this spider's a bit different," Jack said.

Callisto suddenly noticed the translator disc on the side of the Doctor's head.

Surprise, the Doctor thought to them.

"No, it can't be," Callisto said, shaking his head.

Oh, yes it can, the Doctor thought as he came towards him. You thought the spiders would devour us and instead, I managed to shift my consciousness inside one. And now…you're going to become my prey, Callisto.

Callisto put the blaster against his temple.

"I'll kill this body," he said desperately. "I'll destroy it completely so you'll be trapped forever as a spider. I'm warning you, Doctor, don't do anything to hurt me or you lose your body forever."

You forget, that body can regenerate, the Doctor thought to him. How many times can you shoot it before I overwhelm you?

"I'll shoot them then," Callisto said, aiming the blaster at Jack and Jackie. "I'll kill Rose. I don't believe for one moment she's dead and now she's cocooned and helpless. You want their deaths on your conscience?"

The Doctor was about to say something when suddenly Jackie took the initiative and slammed directly into his side. He gasped and was thrown off balance and Jack ran forward to help Jackie keep him down. The Doctor raced to help them but suddenly there was a flash and Callisto transmatted out from under them.

"Damn it," Jack said as he stood up and helped Jackie to her feet. "Great, just lovely. He managed to get away again."

And he has Ianto, Pagos and Tiana along with the TARDIS, the Doctor thought grimly.

"So we're stranded here…again," Jack said, throwing up his hands.

But he can't use the TARDIS so at least we won't have to worry about that, the Doctor thought.

Jack and Jackie watched while the Doctor climbed the webbing and freed Rose from her vantage point. He carefully carried her down and sat her down and Jackie went to retrieve Rose's rucksack and the knife. She came back with the knife and Jack helped her cut Rose out of the webbing.

"So…you're gonna wake her up like this?" Jack said, gesturing to the spider body.

"Come into me again," Jackie said.

But what about the spider, the Doctor thought. The moment I let go, its mind comes back and it'll kill you.

"Let me use the knife and kill it while you're entering Jackie," Jack said. "I can put the knife through its head and pierce the brain."

He sighed when he sensed the Doctor's hesitation.

"Doc, I know you're thinking it's an innocent creature but do you want it to kill us? We have to do something to stop it," he said

The Doctor thought for a moment and then nodded.

Do it quickly, don't let it suffer, he thought to Jack. Jackie, put your fingers on the sides of my head. Jack, be ready.

Jack nodded. He moved Rose to the other side of the room near the doorway. He came back and positioned the knife directly over the spider's head while Jackie put her fingertips on the sides. She felt the Doctor entering her mind as quickly as he could and she allowed him to take control when he was inside her.

Now, Jack! The DoctorJackie said.

Jack rammed the knife directly into the spider's skull as it was regaining awareness. He pulled Jackie back as the spider's legs collapsed and it dropped to the ground dead.

"Sorry, mate, I'm so sorry," DoctorJackie said, patting the dead spider's head.

Jack pulled the knife out and wiped off the gore on the dirt floor while DoctorJackie walked over to Rose. The DoctorJackie knelt down and he put Jackie's fingertips against Rose's temples and closed the eyes. Slowly, Rose came around while Jack stood nearby and guarded them. Rose opened her eyes and smiled.

"Mum?" she said.

"And me, Rose, it's the Doctor," the DoctorJackie said. "I'm back inside her body."

"You didn't stop Callisto then?" Rose said as he helped her sit up.

DoctorJackie explained what happened while Jack took a peek outside the doorway.

"So now what?" Rose said when DoctorJackie finished speaking.

"I think I might be able to use the homing signal to pinpoint where the ship might be," DoctorJackie said. "I need to go back to the lab and see if I can find where the signal was transmitting to. Hopefully, we can find a way to transmat onto the ship and save our friends and take back the TARDIS."

Jack gave Rose back her rucksack before giving her a hug.

"Nice to see you again," he said.

"And you, are you alright?"

"I was shot and killed by a pissed off Callisto but I'm fit as a fiddle now," Jack said, thumping his chest.

Rose chuckled. She put his arm around him and they and Jackie followed the Doctor while he led them out of the room.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

Ianto grunted as he fought against the force field restraints. After returning to the ship, Callisto went back to the cell block and forced Ianto to follow him. He held a blaster to his head and forced him to sit down in a metal chair that was bolted to the floor. Then he pushed a button on the back of the chair and Ianto felt like he was glued to it. Callisto stood in front of him, gloating.

"What is this?" Ianto said as he fought to get free.

"This is you becoming a vessel for me," Callisto said.

Ianto thought about that for a moment and then his eyes widened when he realized what he meant.

"You're not forcing your way into my mind," he said defiantly.

"How are you going to stop me?" Callisto said.

He folded his arms over his chest and gave Ianto a pointed look while he waited for an answer.

"I'm not killing anyone, least of all my friends," Ianto said.

"Do you see this?" Callisto said, pointing to the Doctor's body. "Do you see the Doctor having any form of control over this body?"

"That's because he's gone," Ianto said.

"And what? You're able to fight me off? I've been trained by a powerful shaman, mate. The Doctor hasn't been able to kick me out of his body, what makes you think you'll kick me out of yours?"

Ianto stiffened his body, ready to resist Callisto. Callisto smirked, reached into his pocket and Ianto suddenly sensed the force field was no longer there. He jumped up, intending to fight Callisto but Callisto was ready for him. He slammed into Ianto and knocked him back into the chair, knocking the wind out of him. Callisto sat on top of him and pressed up against him, quickly putting his fingers on Ianto's temples and closing his eyes. Ianto felt Callisto going into his mind and he tried to resist him but Callisto was too strong for him and the Arcadian quickly took control of Ianto's mind and suppressed him. When he was finished, he stood up and looked at the Doctor. He was bent over, his arms still outstretched and his fingers splayed with a blank look on his face. Callisto straightened him up and put his arms down at his sides. Then he reached into the Doctor's pocket and pulled out his blaster and his remote. He put it in Ianto's trouser pocket while he maneuvered the Doctor into the chair. Once the Doctor was seated, he turned on the force field and immobilized him. Then he stood in front of him, pulled out the blaster and aimed it at the Doctor's right heart.

"Goodbye, current Doctor," he said before he fired a shot into the heart.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXO

DoctorJackie was leading everyone back to the lab when suddenly he let out a yell of anguish and fell to his knees while he held his head.

"Doctor? What's wrong?" Rose said as she and Jack ran up to him.

Rose's eyes were wide while she watched her mother's body convulse, her eyes wide with a shocked expression on her face.

"Mum? What is it? What's wrong?" Rose said, kneeling down beside her and gripping her arms. "Doctor? What's going on?"

Jackie didn't speak but after a few minutes, her body relaxed and she shook her head and blinked.

"Doctor?" Rose said.

"No, it's me," Jackie said. "The Doctor's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?" Jack said. "No one was touching you."

"I don't know," Jackie said, shaking her head. "I just felt this sudden pull in my mind, like the Doctor was being pulled out. There was all this pain and the Doctor was screaming in my mind and then he went and I can't feel him anymore."

Jack cursed under his breath.

"Now what has the bastard done?" he said while he, Rose and Jackie looked around.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Doctor shook his head, trying to overcome the shock and disorientation at being back in his own body. Except it wasn't his tenth body. He glanced down at himself and looked at Callisto.

"Ianto, what is this?" Eleven said to him.

"Sorry, Ianto is no longer available for conversation," Callisto said smugly.

"You! Now what have you gone and done?" Eleven growled.

"I decided to change your body; I got bored with the geek look. Although, you still look geeky. And you have an enormous chin now. You might put Rose's eye out with that thing."

"So what happens now?" the Doctor said.

"Well, that's up to you, what do you want to do?" Callisto said.

"Stop the games and end this once and for all."

"Battle to the death then?" Callisto said.

"Yes."

"Interesting. Where and when?"

"Arcadia. Salt Plains, where you left my friends," the Doctor said.

"And if you win, I give you back your friends and the TARDIS?"

"And you surrender yourself. I build you an android body and you stand trial for kidnapping, attempted enslavement, assault, murder, attempted murder and being an all around arsehole."

"Wow, a lot's at stake then," Callisto said dryly. "So…If I win…you become a mindless slave and serve me for the rest of your lives, as does Harkness, since I can't really kill him. Your Anthrosis friends die a horrible, cruel death. I purge Ianto's consciousness from this body and send it floating on its way. As for Rose and Jackie, they will be sent to the magma mines of Gortho and spend the rest of their lives mining magma on a volcanic planet that is probably just as hot as their imagined Hell. Those are my stakes if you lose the battle."

"Agreed. Actually, let me add one more thing to my side," the Doctor said.

"Yes?"

"You'll be put into the molecular disassembler and your body will be torn apart at a molecular level and reassembled for several hours in retaliation for making me lose a life."

"Fair enough," Callisto said, nodding. "So…here's what I'll do. I'll transmat you down to your friends and I'll meet you outside that spider hole with the Anthrosis and the TARDIS. So if I were you, I'd use the walk back to the surface to prepare because, Time Lord, I will show you no mercy once the battle begins."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four

"So now what do we do?" Jackie said to her daughter and Jack. "Do we go look for him?"

"I have a feeling he's light years away from us now," Jack said grimly.

"So we move on, try to find a way out of here?" Rose said.

"I haven't been here for very long but I get the feeling a way out of here is miles and miles away from us," Jack said. "At least it looked that way when we transmatted down here."

"Great, so we're stuck here," Jackie said, throwing up her hands.

Just then, there was an enormous flash. The three of them turned to see the Doctor. He was standing behind them, wearing Callisto's outfit. He was holding his hand on his stomach and looked slightly pale. He looked at them and noticed the confused looks on their faces.

"Things have changed," he said to them. "I'm the Doctor now. That bastard made me regenerate and I was pulled back into my body."

"Doctor?" Rose said, walking over to him and looking him over. "Oh God, are you alright?"

"Not exactly," the Doctor said as Jackie and Jack came over to him.

Before they could ask what was wrong, the Doctor let out a small burp and regenerative energy streamed out of his mouth. Rose paled at the sight of it.

"Oh God, not again," she said, shaking her head. "We're gonna get Sycorax now?"

"No, I don't think so," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "At least I hope not. But I'm still cooking and I'm not at full strength and Callisto challenged me to a battle to the death outside the entrance."

"Here?" Jack said. "So we go outside and watch you battle to the death?"

"When you're ill…again," Jackie said.

"It's not as bad as last time. I think I can manage, just some leftover energy, is all," the Doctor said, holding up his hand. "Follow me everyone, we have to get up to the surface before Callisto does something else."

He walked confidently to the door and everyone gasped when he missed it slightly and hit the wall just beside the doorway.

"Sorry. Early days, steering's a bit off," he said, staggering back.

"Why do I get the feeling that making him regenerate was part of Callisto's plan to gain an advantage over him in battle?" Jack said as the Doctor course corrected and walked through the door.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

By the time they emerged, the day was nearly over and the sun was just above the horizon. Callisto was standing by the hole, waiting impatiently for them. The TARDIS was one hundred feet behind him on a small hill.

"So, you finally made it, eh?" Callisto said, "I was getting worried."

"You bastard! You took Ianto's body!" Jack snarled at him.

He started to run toward Callisto but the Doctor grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Jack, no, this is my fight," the Doctor said to him. "Guard Rose and Jackie."

"Don't hurt Ianto in all this," Jack said tersely to the Doctor.

"I'll do everything in my power not to, I promise," the Doctor said, patting his arm.

Jack glowered at Callisto for a moment before he reluctantly moved back and stood with Rose and Jackie. The Doctor made sure he wasn't going to attack before he turned his attention back to Callisto.

"Well? What do we do now? Boxing, blasters, face slapping?" he said to Callisto

"How about hand to hand combat, make it an even fight," Callisto said.

"Fair enough. Jack, take Rose and Jackie and stand away from us," the Doctor said over his shoulder.

Rose lingered a moment, locking eyes with the Doctor. Jack tapped her on the shoulder and beckoned to her when she looked his way. Rose glanced again at the Doctor and he smiled lovingly at her before she turned and followed her mother and Jack to a large hill about fifty feet away. When they were out of harm's way, the Doctor turned his attention back to Callisto.

"Well…" he said to Callisto. "Have a go at me then."

Callisto held his arms up in a fighting stance but the Doctor noticed he was hesitating and sizing up his opponent.

"Well, come on, mate," the Doctor said, sensing Callisto's hesitation. "You weakened me when you made me regenerate, you know. So what are you waiting for? Hit me!"

Callisto hesitated for a few more moments before he finally lunged forward, his fist drawn back and ready to hit the Doctor's face. The Doctor jerked backwards and let his enemy go right by him. The momentum propelled Callisto past him and the Doctor responded by kicking him hard in the derriere, sending him sprawling to the ground. Callisto tried to get up quickly but he wasn't used to Ianto's body so the Doctor managed to punch him in the stomach as he was getting up. Callisto grunted and the Doctor hit him again, sending him back to the ground. The Doctor stepped back and let him get to his feet. Callisto held his aching jaw and glared at him.

"Come on, you can do better than this," the Doctor said as he stood about ten feet away from him. "I thought you were this big, bad body stealing bloke who could terrorize people with his magical skills. Or…are you just a body stealing bully who can't do anything other than steal bodies? Maybe that's why you kept up the game playing? Because you're useless at hand to hand combat?"

Callisto took a swing at him but the Doctor ducked and stepped out of his way.

"See, you made a grave error when you killed my last body," the Doctor said as he walked around him. "You thought that would weaken me but actually, it made me stronger and more unpredictable. Ask Rose. She was there the last time I regenerated."

Callisto glanced at Rose. Rose nodded and smirked.

"You though if I was newly born, I'd be weakened but this time, I recovered quickly and now I'm in a young, strong, new body that hasn't been weakened by time or stress. And you're in a new body that you still haven't figured out how to control. So who is at a disadvantage now, mate?"

He saw Callisto's hand going into Ianto's pocket and guessed what he was about to do. He ran towards Callisto and brought his hand up and closed it, intending to punch him. Callisto took his hand out of the pocket and brought it up to block the blow. The Doctor smirked and changed tactics at the last second, grabbing Callisto's wrist and jerking it behind his body while he went behind his body and grabbed his neck.

"Figured you'd try to cheat," the Doctor said in his ear while he tightened his hold on both the wrist and neck. "I didn't get to be this old by being a fool, Callisto. Surrender now and leave Ianto's body!"

There was a shudder and Ianto's eyes bulged for a moment. Then he relaxed and Ianto gasped at the Doctor's chokehold.

"It's me, he's gone, could you let go please? You're hurting me," Ianto gasped.

"Sorry," the Doctor said, releasing his grip slightly but still keeping his hands where they were.

"No, really, it's me," Ianto said as Jack, Jackie and Rose slowly walked towards them. "He left and went somewhere."

"Where?" the Doctor said.

"Dunno, but I felt him leave," Ianto said.

"Are you lot alright? You're not possessed?" the Doctor said when the other three came up to him and Ianto.

They glanced at each other and shook their heads.

"Then he's gone, into the air, I suppose," the Doctor said. "He's not in me. Unless, he found something else to possess."

"Are you going to let go of Ianto now?" Jack said to the Doctor.

"Are you sure you're Ianto?" the Doctor said. "You're not pretending so I'll let go?"

"Yan, sing him our bedtime song," Jack said to Ianto.

"No," Ianto said.

"Come on, prove to the Doctor you are who you say you are," Jack said. "Sing the song so he'll let go."

Ianto sighed heavily before he half sang/half muttered…

"The daytime now is over, the moon is in the sky. I'm feeling really sleepy so it's time for beddy bye, it's time for beddy bye."

"Okay, second verse now," Jack said while Rose giggled at Ianto's red face.

"I'm Ianto Jones, trust me! Don't make me sing the second verse!" Ianto said, annoyed.

"Okay, I'll trust you," the Doctor said.

Ianto breathed a sigh of relief when he let him go.

"Thank you," he said to the Doctor as he stepped away from him.

"Now, come on, Yan. Sing the second verse about how I cuddle and coo as I hold you tight," Jack said.

The Doctor grinned and Rose giggled when Ianto's face grew even redder. Jack gave him a playful punch on Ianto's arm before putting his arm around him.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

Everyone hurried back to the TARDIS before anything else happened. The Doctor was concerned about Pagos and Tiana. They were nowhere in sight and given the Arcadian's hatred of Anthrosis, he was afraid they were being tortured or killed while they were stuck on the planet's surface. The other distressing thing was where Callisto had gone to. He kept glancing back at his lover and his friends, checking to see if they were possessed. He didn't think Callisto would give up that easily, not while they were still alive. He stood outside the door of his TARDIS and called to his ship, telling her to do a scan to confirm it was him. He waited a moment and then smiled when he heard the door unlock.

"Thanks, old girl," he said as he opened the door and went inside.

To his relief, Pagos and Tiana were sitting on the seat by the console. They rose when everyone came inside.

"I'm glad you're okay," the Doctor said as he ran up the steps to them.

They recoiled a bit, confusion on their faces, and he remembered he was a changed man now. He explained what happened and why he regenerated and both Anthrosis were livid that Callisto had cost him a life.

"Where is that filthy Arcadian?" Pagos growled. "He must die for this!"

"I don't know where he is at the moment," the Doctor said, holding up his hands to calm him. "He left and went…into the atmosphere, as far as I know. I have to run a scan to try to pinpoint his location but he's not inside any of us. At least I don't think so," he said, looking back at his friends.

"Doctor, Mum wants to rest and have a shower and get this thing off of her," Rose said, gesturing to her mother's clothes as they came towards him. "Is that alright?"

"Yes, go ahead. Just save that mind control device once you get it off. I want to examine it more closely in the lab."

Rose nodded.

"Come on, Mum, I'll show you my room," she said, taking Jackie's hand.

"I'll have the TARDIS make Jackie a regular room and you as well," he said to the Anthrosis. "All of you have a rest while I figure out what's going on and…"

He gasped when the TARDIS suddenly went haywire and began flying on her own. He gasped again when Rose and Jackie were thrown back and Rose's head smacked into the railing on the way down, knocking her unconscious.

"Rose!" Jackie said as she landed beside her.

The Doctor held onto the railing while everyone else hit the floor and tried to find something to hang on to while the TARDIS vibrated and convulsed as it sped off to somewhere. He could see a bit of blood in Rose's hair and he knew she hit the railing hard. He had to get her to the med bay to check her out but at the moment all he could do was hold on to the railing for dear life. The TARDIS shuddered and the Doctor hoped she would be alright. Then after five minutes, everything fell still and the lights dimmed as the TARDIS landed. The Doctor got to his feet and went around the other side of the railing. Jackie was smoothing back Rose's hair and checking to see if she was still alive while the Doctor knelt down beside her.

"What happened? Why did you do that?" Jackie said to him.

"I didn't do anything, my ship just went beserk," the Doctor said.

"Is she alright?" Jack said as he and Ianto ran up to Rose.

"She's unconscious but she's still breathing. Help me get her to med bay," the Doctor said, glancing up at them. "Pagos, Tiana, follow us," he added as the Anthrosis came up beside Jack.

The Doctor, Jack and Ianto gently picked her up and everyone followed them while they carried her out of the room. When all of them were out of the room and out of earshot, Callisto's laugh echoed out of the console before he fell silent.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

When they got her to the med bay, they laid her down on a padded examination table. Jackie stayed by her side and held her daughter's hand while the Doctor had the others fetch things and help him.

"No wonder you're knackered each time you come home," Jackie said, stroking Rose's cheek. "All this trauma and stress, it's a wonder you're still sane, Rose."

She stepped back and let everyone do their work. She lingered nearby, watching with a mother's worry while they checked Rose's open wound and ran tests to make sure she was alright.

"She has a concussion," the Doctor said, glancing at a scanner above the table. "Figured that but there's no swelling or excess fluid on the brain. I think she'll be fine once she wakes up. Jack, hand me the iodine so we can mend the wound. I think we might need sutures, it's a bit deep," he added, moving aside her hair to get a look at the deep cut on the back of her head.

Jackie sat down beside the Anthrosis so they could work and get what they needed without bumping into her. She glanced at the humanoid lizards, thinking it odd that she was sitting beside them as if it was a normal, everyday thing.

"So…how long have you known the Doctor?" she said, trying to ease her fears by talking to them.

"I haven't know Kel'shak long," Pagos said. "But I have great respect for him."

"I fought beside him during the Time War," Tiana said.

"Oh…" Jackie said, not really knowing what to say to that.

"He is much revered among our people," Tiana said to her. "I have much respect for him. He protected our people during the Time War."

"He is legendary," Pagos added. "I wasn't alive during the Time War but it is taught in our schools and everyone knows his name. When I was given the opportunity to come with him, I took it. He is a great warrior. Have you known him long?"

"I met him after my daughter met him," Jackie said, nodding to Rose. "She went with him without telling me and he made a mistake when he brought her back and I didn't see her for an entire year. I was furious and because of that, we got off on the wrong foot. And I haven't always been friendly towards him but now I do see what makes him great and why Rose admires him so and is willing to risk her life to be with him. Even this," she said, pointing to Rose. "She won't blame him for this; she just accepts it as the risk she takes when she travels with him. She loves him dearly."

"She is his mate?" Tiana said.

"Um…" Jackie thought about that. "They act like it but I don't know for sure. He's very secretive sometimes."

"Yes," Tiana said, nodding. "Kel'shak is a very secretive person indeed but at the same time, he is very open and friendly towards those he considers his friends."

Jackie nodded. She turned her attention back to her daughter. Ianto had stepped back while Jack helped the Doctor. Jack was holding Rose's head while he put a few stitches in the wound to close it.

"It's not as bad as I thought, only five stitches," the Doctor said to Jack. "It could have been much worse."

"What happened to the TARDIS, why did it do that?" Jack said.

"I don't know but that's the next thing on my agenda after this," the Doctor said, glancing at him.

They finished with Rose and Jack put everything away while the Doctor put a clear circular plaster over the spot on her head. Jackie stood up and walked over to him.

"I think she'll be alright," the Doctor said to her. "She just needs to rest. This plaster is better than the Earth ones; it'll protect the wound and the stitches. Other than that, we just take her to her room and let her wake up on her own. Come with me, Jackie. I'll take her to her room and you can stay with her and be with her when she wakes up. You can use her shower and the TARDIS can supply you with clothes and you can rest with her while I figure out what made my ship go berserk."

Jackie nodded. The Doctor gently gathered Rose in his arms. He asked Jack to take the Anthrosis to the guest rooms so they could rest too. Jack nodded and he and Ianto stood back and let him and Jackie walk out of the room.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

"How do you know where to go, the passageways all look the same," Jackie said as she followed the Doctor and Rose through the corridors to her room.

"I've spent nearly my whole life inside her; I can find my way around. Besides, the TARDIS can move rooms around and help me out. Here we are."

He entered the room and Jackie looked around. The walls had been coral colored but inside Rose's room, they were pink and more feminine looking. The room looked extremely cozy with white wooden furniture. She hurried to the bed and pulled back the eiderdown so the Doctor could gently put Rose down in her bed. She pulled the covers up when the Doctor made her comfortable and noticed a large photo on the wall behind her bed. It was Rose and the tenth Doctor, their arms around each other while they smiled for the camera.

"Where was this?" Jackie said, pointing to it.

The Doctor looked at where she was pointing and frowned.

"Um…to be honest, I can't remember," he said. "We snapped several photos all over time and space and we're too close to the camera to see the background."

"I like it. You look happy," she said.

"We try to be," the Doctor said. "Especially since our lives can become hectic and tense. I try to take her to fun places as well and we get heaps of photos there. That's why I can't remember where this one was taken."

"Have you ever thought of marrying her?"

The Doctor froze with a surprised look on his face.

"Wouldn't you have a stroke if that happened?" he said.

"Doctor, I do admit I've been a bit overprotective but being out here and going through what my daughter goes through, I've seen how close you two really are. You obviously love my daughter and she loves you. I'm just curious if you would ever consider marriage?"

The Doctor thought about it.

"My other self would have said no because Rose would have grown old while I remained young but me…I don't know. I know that at the moment our lives are too hectic for that sort of thing."

"What life isn't?" Jackie said with a shrug. "Most people have to make time in their lives to get married and there are people who have stressful lifestyles filled with danger. Firemen, policemen and soldiers get married all the time, you know."

"I know but I'm just shocked to hear you suggesting such a thing," the Doctor said.

"Well, I wouldn't have during your ninth life because let's face it, you used to be an insensitive arsehole to me."

"Fair enough," the Doctor said with a shrug.

"Then you changed and you became…softer and sweeter and I actually started to like you. I don't know about your personality now but you aren't being an arsehole to me. And I have a mother's sight and I can see the way Rose looks at you. She looks at you in a way she's never done with any other boyfriend she's had and she's absolutely devoted to you. Believe me, she never would have allowed herself to be put in a trance and cocooned for anyone else. And you give her the same loving looks. I always try to keep an open mind and not be prejudiced against others and I believe that if two people love each other, it shouldn't matter what race they are or what species, in your case. You and she, you are a team in every sense of the word," she said, taking Rose's hand and rubbing the back. "You watch out for one another and you care about her. I can trust you to look after her and treat her like the princess I know she is. That's why I was wondering."

"Thank you," the Doctor said, loving that this was coming from Jackie. "I would but…I'm not sure when I would. The time would have to be right."

"Well, I wouldn't wait too long," Jackie said. "I mean, the way I see it, you two are married in all but name now."

The Doctor smiled. He was about to say something when suddenly the roundel lights began to go on and off.

"What's this?" Jackie said, turning to look at them when they kept blinking.

"I don't know but my TARDIS is acting strangely. I'm going to have to leave you and Rose and go find out…"

Suddenly, there was a enormous jerk and the bedroom door was sealed up as the room went flying into the air. Jackie and the Doctor threw themselves over Rose while the bed began to move towards the back wall. They scrambled onto the bed just before the bed hit the wall. Then there was an enormous thump as the room landed.

"What the hell is wrong with this ship? Is it insane?" Jackie said.

"No, it's…"

The Doctor got off the bed and ran to the area where the door had been. He cursed when he realized his sonic wasn't in his pocket. He walked to the side wall and opened a small panel underneath a roundel. He flipped a switch and the door reappeared.

"Emergency override for the doors," he said to Jackie.

Jackie pointed to the door and the Doctor turned and walked back over to it. He did a double take when he realized the room had been jettisoned from the TARDIS and now was lying on top of a bed of obsidian in the middle of several volcanoes.

"What happened? Where are we?" Jackie said as she got off the bed and walked to the door.

"The TARDIS jettisoned the room," the Doctor said in disbelief. "Why'd it do that?"

"Jettisoned us? It threw us away?" Jackie said.

The Doctor didn't reply for a moment. Then he had a sudden disturbing thought.

"I think I know where Callisto went," he said grimly as he observed smoke rising from a nearby volcano.

"Where?" Jackie said.

"The TARDIS is sentient. It's alive and I think Callisto possessed her the way it possessed me," he said to her. "If that's true, Callisto just threw us away from the TARDIS and now everyone else is trapped inside her."

"Where are we?" Jackie said.

"Dunno but I'm hoping it's not where I think it is, otherwise we'll have to avoid more slavers," the Doctor said.

"Will we be safe in here then?" Jackie said.

"Yes. But…if one of these volcanoes erupts and magma covers us, we'll be trapped inside this room forever. We have to leave sometime, preferably when Rose comes to but if not, we'll have to carry her."

"But is it safe to breathe out there?"

"I don't know but I do have emergency kits in every room and they have gas masks inside them. For the moment, I think we're safe so we'll wait and see if Rose wakes up."

Jackie nodded. She went over to the corner, picked up a wooden chair that had overturned and brought it over to the side of the bed. The Doctor walked to the cupboard and retrieved the emergency kit while Jackie sat and watched over Rose.

THE END (To be continued…)


End file.
